Detailed Scan

Finally! Today is the day of my detailed scan, aka Fetal Anomaly Scan! It's been more than 1 month since I saw the little one on screen, but he never fail to remind me of his presence with his regular movements.

According to a brochure I obtained from the ultrasound centre, the FA scan is a detailed 2D ultrasound scan which is performed at 20 to 22 weeks to check the physical development of the fetus and measures the fetal growth parameters. The fetal brain, nose, lips, heart, spine, stomach, bowel, kidneys and limbs are best assessed at this stage to detect structural abnormalities. The fetal gender is usually known during this scan as well. Through this scan, the location of the placenta and amount of amniotic fluid present around the baby can be determined.

My appointment was for 11am. Since P's school bus usually comes at around 10.20am, I thought I will head down to the waiting area and send her off on the school bus, before going for my detailed scan. Boy, was P happy to see me. In fact, she spotted me when I was about 20m away. She was with my mil's maid, who as seated backfacing me. P happens to be facing in my direction and I waved at her. From a distance, I could tell she was mouthing "mama, mama..." Once I got within 5m of the waiting area, she jumped off the bench and ran to me. I stayed there for another 10 min and got to meet the other 2 girls whom P boards the school bus with. When the bus came, mil's maid passed her over to the bus aunty and she was placed on the 1st row of seats. She waved bye to us happily and for a fleeting moment, I felt a gush of emotions (pregnancy hormones at work). My girl has gotten over the crying phase and she is growing up too quickly!

I arrived at Thomson Diagnostic Ultrasound Centre at Novena Medical Centre about 10 minutes before my appointment time. I handed over my appointment slip and was told to take a seat before they called my name for registration. There were about 3 couples at the waiting area and I knew I will be in some for wait. P's detailed scan was conducted at Thomson Medical Centre, and the wait was very long. I was more prepared this time, with a fully charged phone and a partially charged power bank that should be able to take my gaming to the end of the wait. True enough, it was another half an hour before they called me into the room.

The sonographer was a friendly middle aged woman whose first question was "Hubby didn't come with you?" Thinking back, I must have been the only one who came without a partner, wondered if the other couples thought I'm a single mother, hee hee. Anyway, if my gynae visit at Week 16 hadn't revealed the gender of #2, hubby would probably have made more effort to come. The sonographer brought me through the major organs of the baby. She pointed out the body parts, but to be honest I can't decipher the images at all. At one point in time, I asked her how she can do it so easily and she was like "you don't believe me?" Oops, it sounded like I doubted her ability, but I was just curious because what's on screen is just a sea of black and white to me. She told me not to worry and she will do a detailed check, and if she spots anything amiss, she will let me know immediately. While trying to scan the head circumference of baby, she told me she couldn't get a good measurement because he is in a vertical position (whatever that means). After numerous tries and turns, she couldn't get what she wanted, so I was asked to go out for a walk and come back later to scan again in the hope that baby will get into a better position. And so, it was another 20 min of waiting... Luckily, she got her measurements when I returned. The report took 5 minutes to print, and I was out of the centre at 12.30pm.

My intention was to go straight to my gynae (she's supposed to explain the report to me), but a quick phone call told me they were closed for the afternoon, and full for tomorrow. The earliest slot would be after CNY, bleah! I took my lunch at Quizno Subs and went to AMK hub for a pedicure and haircut. Man, I don't think I've ever seen the Nail Palace so crowded in my life. They were actually operating at full capacity, and I was lucky enough to get the last seat. Whoever's behind me will need to wait for someone else to finish. I was seriously contemplating whether to get a coat of festive color on my toenails (worried about the effects on the fetus), but the pedicurist sold me. She told me many of her customers did pedicures with nail polish all the way till they deliver. I gave in to the temptation and my toenails are now flashing red, whee!! I had my hair trimmed after the pedicure, and it felt really good to pamper myself for the afternoon.

4 more days to CNY, can't wait! Question of the year will no longer be "When are you having a second child?"
"Boy or Girl?" I already have an answer ;)

A happy school girl

It's been more than 10 days since P started school, and I'm really glad to say that she is now enjoying school. I asked her two days back if she wants to go school the next day and the answer came back a resounding "Yes!!" I still do not have much insight on what she does in school. Based on her account, teacher will read Goldilocks and the Three Bears daily, eat noodle for lunch daily and sing the same songs daily. Nowadays, when she look at photos on my phone of her first three days at school, she will point out her Chinese teacher 叶老师 (whom I suspect P is fond of). I won't know for sure what brought about her change of attitude towards school, but I'm really glad for it!

Happy School Girl

Her body clock is also adapting to her school hours, and now she sleeps at about 11pm and wakes up after 8am, as opposed to 9pm and 7am in the past. She still falls asleep on her return journey in the school bus every now and then, and that will be her nap for the day. On such occasions, she will sleep early (before 9pm) and all the way till the next day. 

K1 and K2 kids started school on 7 Jan, and it means P has 2 companions boarding the school bus with her. One of the girls apparently likes P a lot, and has been giving her small gifts (stickers, small toys) every now and then. 

Waiting for school bus with 2 jie jies

Hubby has started a new job this week, and his working hours were longer than before. That means I will be picking up P from his mom's place after work and have some mother-daughter bonding time before the man comes home. 

She told me she built a "house"

Play-Doh fun

We took some time last weekend to head down to Marina Square for CNY clothes shopping where I bombed $200 on maternity wear. We had lunch at a newly opened restaurant (Shallots) at the Dining Edition section of Marina Square. They were offering a 3-course set lunch at $13.80++. The fish was really good, but portion was a bit small. I managed to get P a Staples flowery dress at John Little at a steal. The price tag was $12 (which I was already very happy with), but it turned out to be on 50% discount (happiness x 2). By the time we got to hubby's turn, P was already exhausted. We took a break at Coffee Club where P could lie down and nap, while hubby went in search for his clothes. We probably need to make another shopping trip this weekend, but we'll see how it goes. 

All the sweet things...

The little one in the tummy has been really active recently. The popcorn popping feeling I get at week 16 has evolved into amazingly strong 无影脚 that catches me off guard. It's been almost a month since I get to see him on screen, but detailed scan is coming up on 27 Jan and I'm really looking forward to it. As my tummy starts to grow, you can see that P has found a new use for it - a nice cushy sofa to lay back on and watch tv. I should start charging her for usage.

Sofa for rent

Traumatising Day 2

It's 3.45am and I'm lying in bed typing this post. Recounting the day's event brought tears to my eyes.

P had a terrible Day 2 at her kindergarten. Unlike yesterday, I tried to step aside today to let the teachers do their work. P became totally hysterical and inconsolable when she realised I'm not at her side. She cried through her assembly and tried several times to get to us, but was held back by a teacher. 

After assembly, I went to her to give her a hug and tried to do a proper goodbye, telling her that mommy and daddy are going to buy her some cheese (her fav snack) and we'll see her after school. She would have none of it, pulling me into her classroom and promptly sat on my lap to prevent me from going anywhere. Attempts to get her to sit on the floor were futile as her radar was on full alert, any distance more than 1cm would trigger crying. I got her out of the classroom to clam down upon hubby's recommendation. She was super clingy and not even hubby can get her away from me. Her Chinese teacher 叶老师 came up to us and offered to bring P to the classroom. She refused and hubby asked the teacher to just take her away. It was the most heart wrenching moment when she screamed and cried and tried desperately to hold on to me. Tears were forming in my eyes and I tried very hard to control. I really can't bear to watch on any longer, and asked hubby to get me out of there for lunch. 

I got back to the school just after 1pm to wait for P to take the school bus together, just as I promised her earlier when I tried to do the goodbye. She wasn't crying as she walked the long corridor to the main hall, but the moment she saw me, she broke into tears. 

Lessons learnt (in order of importance):

1. Out of sight, out of mind. The kiddo will only cry if she sees her parents. 

2. It might have been better if I hadn't turned up with her yesterday. It makes her think that mommy (and/or daddy) can accompany her to school and be with her the whole time. 

3. Proper goodbyes should be done the moment we reached school, otherwise it won't work anymore. In other words, drop and go. 

P must have gotten so tired from all the crying that she conked out in the school bus, poor girl. 

Concussed!

Next Monday will be the final day that parents can accompany their kiddos, both on the school bus and in school. I'm on leave, but hubby asked me not to go. Plan is to get mil's maid to send her up the school bus in the morning (which will be the routine going forward). Hubby will drive to school and peep to see how she's doing, but he needs to stay "invisible" (out of sight and mind for P).

Before bedtime, I had my usual daily conversation of "What did you do today and where did you go?" with P. She was able to tell me most of the day's event, but the only missing part was the duration in school. Sigh, I think she's totally traumatised by today and want to avoid speaking about it totally. Not a good sign!! I must make a mental note to tell my parents and in laws not to ask or say anything about school over the weekend.

Below is the carnage from today's struggles. I was shocked when I removed her badge and the safety pin just crumbled.

The wreckage

I'm worried about next week, seriously worried. 

First Day of School

Today is a nerve wrecking day for many parents out there. It is a new beginning for those entering preschool as well as primary school for the first time.

P started the day by sleeping past her usual timing. We'd expected her to wake at around 7 because she didn't wake up for her midnight milk, but she slept till 8 plus. As for me, I woke at 6 plus thinking how she was going to fare for the day. Tried getting back to sleep after that, but it didn't work. Parenting woes. 

We changed her into her school uniform at about 10am, and she looks super ready for school. 

Smiley pic

Bag and bottle ready

Since her primary caregiver will be my mil's maid, we've asked the school bus to pick her up from my mil's block. We walked over to mil's place to meet her maid and school bus was scheduled to come at 10.50am. We had some time, so more pics were taken. 

Family pic to mark this milestone

The whole entourage (me, hubby, sil and mil's maid) escorted her down at 10.50am to wait for the school bus. 

Where is the school bus?

As expected, bus didn't arrive on the dot. We waited for close to 20 mins before it finally showed up. In fact, I was deliberating whether to just ignore the school bus and just have hubby fetch us there. Haha, paranoid mom syndrome. Lucky the bus came and I accompanied her onto the bus. 

On the school bus with mama

P turned out to be the 2nd last kid to board the bus, so we actually reached school quite early at around 11.15am. She had the chance to interact with the teachers and help herself to the toys in her classroom.

Puzzle in progress with teachers

She was doing quite well on her own so I stepped out to give her teachers some time to know her better. After some 15 min of play, she suddenly became quite insecure and started looking around for me. I reassured her and she continued with her puzzle. Soon it was time for assembly and I watched the teachers lead her out. She sat near the front and looked quite calm, but from the way her lips were moving, it sounded like she's asking her teacher "妈妈在哪里？" They sang their usual songs but she got more and more upset towards the end of assembly. Soon, she was just crying so badly that her teacher had to pass her to me.

P is sitting right in front of her teacher

After assembly, they went back to their class for English lessons. Teacher Lyn lead them through some songs and I stayed close enough to P in order to encourage her to participate in the activities.

Let's hold hand and go in circles

Pass the ball game

The class was led off to wash hands at about 12.15pm and hubby also arrived around that time to bring me lunch (bread and water chestnut drink). Lunch was served after the kiddos washed their hands. It looked like porridge from outside, but the menu says it's "Fishball soup with vegetables and noodles". P was sitting back facing us, but she turned around and saw us outside the class. We could tell she wanted to come out and look for us, but at that moment, her teacher placed her food in front of her and we were forgotten.

Concentrating on her meal (middle table backfacing us)

After eating, the kids were supposed to put their bowl into a pail near the entrance of the class. I saw the teacher giving her instructions to do so, but guess what she did? P conveniently took her bowl, turned around and place her bowl at the table behind. She then turned back as if she had cleared her bowl according to instructions. I LOL-ed at that.

Parents were asked to leave the kiddos and wait in the main hall for dismissal. I could see P's class being lead up the stairs to presumably the outdoor playground. She told me later that teachers brought her to "play sand". 

When the dismissal bell sounded, classes are lead out 1 by 1. At the main hall, there are various alphabet cards indicating the school bus "numbers". P is to be on Bus D, which we had come on in the morning. Once the kiddos reach the assembly hall, teachers will base it on their badge transport instructions and direct them to the correct bus aunty. Although it was kinda chaotic today, but I think it will be quite organised in the absence of parents. P's class was the 4th class being led out and from afar, I could tell she was crying. As soon as she  spotted me, she tried to race past her teachers to reach me, but was held back. More hugs and kisses required to calm her. 

How to dash past teachers to get to mama?

Bus D was 3rd in line and we were soon on our way. For return trip, P was the first to alight, but the drop off spot was quite a distance from my mil's block. Bus Aunty explained that they have 2 other students come next Tuesday who stays near 310, so the drop off location is organised as such. The school bus service don't come cheap either, $110 per month. I hadn't expected to be walking some distance to go back home. Too bad there isn't an alternative for us, just have to make do.

As for the little one in my tum tum, he decided to make me throw up thrice today - once after I woke up, once after breakfast and once after lunch. With all the food emptied from my stomach, my first meal of the day turned out to be dinner, which thankfully is still intact as I type this post. It's week 18 already, and the puking is becoming erratic, not on a daily basis but sometimes can work out to a few times a day. 

I also feel like I'm coming down with a cough and flu. Need to hold out for the 2nd day of school tomorrow. I hope P adapts soon, jiayou jiayou jiayou!!

Updates on P

I realised my past few posts are all about pregnancy, so I want to do some updates on P today. Actually, we did a lot of things with P during December, but I didn't have the energy to update whilst in my first trimester. Between my mom and myself, P probably swept through most of the malls and their live shows - Barney, Care Bears, Forever Friends etc. She even got to watch some of the shows twice. However, we missed the Sesame Street show at Taka. I'd taken leave the day after the show ends, intending to bring her there, but luckily I checked the show schedule to realise that the show had ended the day before. Alas!

Care Bears at Junction 8

Barney at United Square

Mariposa Barbie Fairy Princess meet & greet

Pororo at Nex

Teletubbies and Zingzillas at Plaza Singapura

Canimals pre-show at Harbourfront Centre

Man, the pics above made me wonder where I got my energy from!

As for recent happenings, P had her school orientation last Friday. I took the bus with her (she actually told me not to board the Trans Island bus, and wait for the school bus instead!) and hubby popped by during his lunch hour since orientation was from 12-1pm. She had been badgering us to let her go to school, so we thought that we wouldn't have any problem transitioning her. By the end of the orientation, it was obvious we have a lot to work on her. 

When we walk into the school, first thing I saw was kiddos trying on their school uniforms, and there were some tables set up by the side, presumably for school bus service. The first thing P saw was the long school kind of metallic swing whereby you sit facing each other. The staff told me to get her uniforms settled first, so I proceeded to try on the sizes for her. Throughout the trying, P kept pointing me in the direction of the swing. You can imagine the struggle and the pouty face I had to manage. It was a sigh of relief when the staff told us to proceed to assembly area and settle the uniforms later. 

Glacing in the direction of the metal swing

At the assembly area, little kiddo chairs bearing the class names were set up at the front. We were to lined up according to the classes we were assigned to. The principal made the opening speech, introduced her teachers and passed it over to one of the HODs to host the orientation. The kiddos sang a couple of songs, and then were separated into their individual classes/classrooms for further activities.

Assembly area before orientation begins

P was initially ok to join her classmates to sit on a floor mat and listen to the Chinese teacher lead the activity. However, barely after 3 minutes, she decided to stand up and come look for me. The classroom was crowded with parents who stood next to the mat and prevented her from reaching me. I gave her a reassuring smile and asked her to sit back down. That's when the nightmare happened, P tripped over a kid's leg and fell smack in front of her teacher and all her classmates. Needless to say, she started crying really badly. I tried to get to her but was held back by the Great Wall of Parents (GWoP). Finally she was handed over to me, and we managed to console her. When she has calmed down, we took several attempts to get her to rejoin the group (again battling the GWoP) but it only triggered her crying all over again. To be honest, it was at this point in time that I got really pissed with the GWoP. They were standing around to get videos and pictures of their kiddos -_-. I try not to judge other parents, but this really got to me, grrr!

P and her class

We took a brief respite by bringing her out of the classroom and going to get her uniforms. There wasn't much of a crowd, which was probably the best time to get uniforms. We bought 3 sets (hubby wanted more but was flabbergasted when I told him each set costs $26) and we also took the chance to confirm the school bus service. 

With some time to spare, we returned to the classroom and P had calmed down considerably by now. She even joined the final song and activity without tears. Phew! 

After the orientation, hubby fetched P and myself to United Square before heading back to office. I decided to bite the bullet and bring her for her first "professional" haircut (all prior haircuts were done by grandma) as I noticed she was pushing her hair away from her face a lot during the orientation. Thankfully she was a champion throughout the haircut (thanks to Barney and Baby Bop on the screen in front of her). The haircut costs a freaking $24, and I'm still trying to get over it. 

Before

During

After

Lastly, a bit of update on the little one in my tummy. My last ms happened on 22 Dec, so it's been more than a week without it. I truly thought I was going to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but guess what? I threw up again this morning, and with such an intensity I didn't expect, right before leaving for work. My appetite for today has been bad. At the rate I'm eating, I might just lose another 2kg by the time I end 2nd trimester, ugh!

We're in the Blue Team!

Happy to announce that we're joining the blue team this time round! Visited the gynae this morning with hubby and P in tow. I'm quite surprised hubby still involves himself in gynae visits for this pregnancy, and he even took half day leave for this routine visit. To be honest, my expectations of him are very low this time, having gone through 1 pregnancy together, I'd expected visiting the gynae alone most of the time. He has made it for 2/3 visits so far, which I thought was quite impressive, haha. 

Anyway, back to the visit... I'd done a blood test during the previous visit and Dr. Teo went through results with me today. She said the results are very good, sufficient blood for the pregnancy etc. The only red flag is that I'm out of Hep B antibodies and will need to go for jab after I deliver, but I already knew this from the health screening back in June. 

Next up is the scan, and the moment of truth. We went through the usual organs and hearing the heartbeat (it was at 158 today), and then she started looking for the privates haha. This whole gender thing feels so much like an exam to me and made me so nervous! It felt like failure when you don't get the gender you/your spouse desire. Hubby was very disappointed when #1 turned out to be a girl (although he loves his little princess to bits after she's out), so the stress level was quite high this time round. Gynae went "Oooh, looks like you are expecting... (I held my breath and I'm sure hubby was doing the same) a boy! Why did I say that? Look, this is the bottom view of baby. This are the legs (forming a V shape) and see what you have between the legs." Yes, unmistakable testicles, unmistakable blue team. 

P did a hilarious rendition of the gynae visit in the car while we were on our way home. "Doctor put sticker (actually is a napkin to prevent the gel from getting on my clothes) on mama's tummy, then tut tut tut (sound of baby's heartbeat). Then baby touch his face (she repeated what the gynae said)." Haha, I laughed till I cried.

To our beloved #2 Clyde Tan, we'll see you in 6 months' time. Can't wait!

P/S: We're approaching week 16 already, can you start giving mama a morning sickness break?

Newbaby Confinement Food trial

I had booked a lunch trial with Newbaby some 1 month ago at the Parenthood Fair. The trial was going at $15 instead of the usual $35 or something, but the catch is that I have to arrange the trial within 1 month of the Parenthood Fair dates. For someone who is just going to past the first trimester (not to mention still having strong bouts of morning sickness throughout the day), the trial seems to have happened too early, haha.

At the stroke of 12, I heard knocking at the front door. Hubby answered the door and there was the delivery person. The food was neatly packed in microwaveable containers in what I thought was a pretty good quality plastic bag. Menu of the day/lunch:

1. Fish and papaya soup

2. Steam fish with dried lily buds

3. Silver anchovy with Vegetables (kai lan)

The meal also came with a generous serving of longan red date tea and a full pack of rice. Serving size was about 1.5 pax, too much for me alone but not enough for both hubby and me. At least it will definitely keep me full during the confinement period if I do go with them. 

Hubby didn't like item 1 much, but I think they did pretty well on the other dishes. The fish didn't have any fishy smell/taste and the vegetables went down quite well with me. The red date tea was a bit bland, but passable. 

Their 28 days dual meal package will set me back by $1600. If I order 1 month before my edd, I will enjoy an early bird discount of $120. Hmmmm, I need to explore other options before making a final decision. 

Another thumb sucker

I visited the gynae 2 days ago and got a priceless pic above - Baby is sucking its thumb! Haha really can't believe it's taking after its sister so quickly. We've yet managed to wean P off her thumb yet, but at least she now sucks it only if she's sleepy. 

My morning sickness has finally kicked in 2 weeks ago, so much for thinking I will be lucky enough to skip it this time. In comparison to P, it was milder this time, so I'm still thankful for it. 

Dr. Wendy Teo was very patient in bringing me through all the body parts of #2. She showed me the skull, nose, mouth, hands, ankles, umbilical cord, heart, and even the left and right brain. She's really the sort of gynae you should look for hen expecting your #1. My ex gynae will only say "baby looks good. See you in a month's time". Dr. Teo charges higher fees, but I think it's justified for the amount of time she spends with each patient. 

I started on the multivitamins and fish oil (seeing the left and right brain prompted me to start). They will cost me about $52 monthly. I'm also quite amazed by the fish oil. Not sure whether fish oil has evolved in the span of 3 years, but the one I'm taking this time doesn't come with icky fishy smell when I burp. In fact, a nice pleasant lemony smell comes out. I'm impressed, haha. 

My detailed scan has been scheduled for end Jan and gynae will see me in a month's time. She told me she will be able to let me know gender the next visit, if baby cooperates. Looking forward!

Chugging along?

I'm supposedly entering week 9 tomorrow, and have been eating well so far. From the looks of it, I'm going to belong to the 25% of women who don't get MS this time round. Nauseousness does hit me now and then, but the merlion thing hasn't happened and I hope it stays that way. I was puking very badly with P at about this time. It sets me thinking whether #2 is a different gender from P for such a marked difference. On the other hand, I'm also worried whether the little one is growing well. 

The first and second pregnancy is so different. With the first one, I had plenty of time to read up on body changes during pregnancy, what to eat etc. Now, readings are a luxury but I realised time passes a lot faster with#1 to distract me. I used to count down day by day to my next gynae visit, but time is now whooshing by without me realising. 

Christmas is less than 2 months away. I thought I'll share P's version of Jingle Bells: 

Ginger bells, ginger bells, pussy on the bell, yay! One more side, one more side, one more side..."

Haha, plenty of room for improvement. If it does turn for the better, I'll update here. 

Pan Pacific Singapore Staycation

The Tan Family has just returned from a 2D1N staycation at Pan Pacific Singapore Hotel to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary. It was such a great experience that both myself and the little one are having withdrawal symptoms. 

I started sourcing for wedding anniversary plans some 3 months back, and came across the Pan Pacific Staycation Singapore Special on their website. Pan Pacific is where we held our banquet 3 years ago and every year I will definitely get onto their website to look for deals. The staycation package was probably a godsend. At $218++ per night, it is even lower than most of the average hotels out there. It even comes with $40 dining credit that you can use in most of the dining establishments within the hotel. With hotels, I often find the check in and check out timings very unfair to stayers. Check in is usually 2pm or 3pm, and check out is before 12 noon. With this package, we get complimentary check out at 3pm, good for us to sleep in, catch breakfast, do a swim and slowly pack our belongings. 

When doing the booking, I indicated that we are celebrating our 3rd anniversary and the hotel went all out to make sure it was a memorable one for us. 3 days before check in, I received an email from Pan Pacific telling me that they are extending a complimentary cake to us in celebration of our anniversary. On the day of check in, the staff assisting us with our check in told us that we have been given a room upgrade from the Deluxe room to the Harbour view King room. How sweet of them! Oh, I also have to mention we arrived way ahead (just after lunch) of check in time of 3pm, but they didn't hold us back as the room was ready. Thank god for that, else I will have to come up with contingency plan for the next 2.5 hours or so. 

The moment we reached our room (3113) on the 31st floor, I couldn't help but do a victory dance. We had full view of MBS, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the CBD skyline and even the merlion. The little one, seeing my excitement, joined in the victory dance. Shortly after, the doorbell rang and a staff passed us a box of chocolate and a letter from their GM congratulating us on our wedding anniversary, also asking us to enjoy our room upgrade. 

We took an afternoon nap and awoke at 3 plus. P couldn't wait to swim after that, so we made our way to the pool at Level 4. The pool was very crowded, but the staff manage to find us a deck chair, passed us 2 bottles of ice water and our towels. Despite the hot afternoon sun, the pool water was quite cold. That being said, barely after 20 min of swim, the sky turned grey suddenly and there was thunder. The staff "evacuated" the pool due to lightning concerns and it was too short a swim for us. We assured P we will be back the next day, and she waved goodbye to the pool unwillingly. 

P and I took our bath and sat on the bed watching movies on the bed. Hubby decided to relax in the bath tub, and watch the movie from the bath tub. Pan Pacific Singapore has undergone a recent renovation and I must say I'm quite impressed with the facilities in the bedrooms. They have a glass window for the bathroom, and you could see the rest f he bedroom from there (and vice versa). That's how hubby can watch the movie from the bathroom. Also, the shower room and the toilet is separated, so you can have multiple people in the toilet doing different things at any one time. The fridge/mini bar is fully computerised. Once you remove any item and didn't put it back within 30s, they will charge the item to your bill. I think that saves a lot of trouble for their housekeeping staff to track the items. Blinds are fully remote controlled, and their phone offers one touch control to many services. 

We went to Suntec in search for dinner. The Convention Centre area has changed so much. I've been there previously, but not hubby, so we went there to check it out. Couldn't find much dining options so we proceeded to Fountain area. Dinner was Peperoni pizza (hehe, #2 was craving for pizza), but the portion wasn't quite sufficient. I should have ordered a bigger pizza for sharing. We ended up at Gelare for waffle and ice cream desserts. 

Hubby wanted to head back to hotel after dinner, and we were just in time to catch the MBS laser show from our room at 8pm. Pan Pacific has also arranged for our anniversary cake to be delivered while we were out for dinner. The cake came with 'Happy 3rd Anniversary!' Card signed by some of their staff. Really really appreciate the personal touch that the hotel has arranged for us! They have never disappoint us so far, kudos to all the warm and professional staff. 

We turned in early for the night and slept really well. The next day, P surprised me by saying she wants to sleep in, and ask me to turn off all the lights. She must have enjoyed the sleep too. We went to Edge on level 3 for our complimentary breakfast, and the spread was quite commendable. I wished I had 4 stomachs to try all the food, but with #2 taking up space, I can't take in as much as I would have wanted. I liked their fried kway teow and fried bee hoon. Missed the dimsum station until I was too full for anything else, so that was a pity. 

We wanted to take a 30 min break, but P kept chanting that she wants to swim. We had no choice but to change and bring her to the pool. Unlike the day before, the pool was relatively empty today. Water was equally cold (thermal wear recommended for kids), but we had fun frolicking in the water. We stayed till P is willing to leave the pool. 

The $40 dining credit was spent at the Atrium Deli, serving mainly sandwiches and breakfast sets. We chose their set lunch ($19.90) and it came with a sandwich/burger, a salad and a drink. Hubby chose the Corn Crab Burger while I had the Prawn Avocado sandwich. Both were good, and surprisingly filling. We checked out after that meal, also ahead of the check out timing. Hubby has soccer at 3pm, else we would probably have taken a nap before leaving. 

All in all, it was a very nice staycation. We spent a lot of time in the room and at the hotel, relaxing and resting, charging up for the week ahead. The little one was probably the most disappointed when we left. She was expecting us to return to the hotel room after our meal at Atrium Deli. The reality didn't hit her until we reach our void deck. She broke down and cried really hard, telling us she wants to "go back to the hotel room". It took a lot of reassuring for her to finally come to terms with it. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, she would randomly mention "go back hotel room soon ok?" and "next time go hotel room". I wished I could do that too, my dear. Ugh, hope we'll get over the staycation withdrawal symptoms soon!!

P the Whistleblower

Went over to in laws' place for dinner today. We wanted to break the pregnancy news to them, but guess what? P the whistleblower already beat us to it, and they sort of guessed it two weeks before already. 

SIL told us on one of the days when she spends the morning at my in law's place, P randomly spouted "mommy's tummy got baby." SIL and her maid was taken aback and sought confirmation from her by asking whether someone else's tummy has got baby. She replied "no" to all, and insists only mommy's tummy got baby. 

It turned out that the surprise was on me and hubby instead. We didn't expect her to remember what we told her and then "spread" the news to others, haha. My in laws also kept the knowledge to themselves until today, kudos to them. 

Now, we know what NOT to tell P next time. By the way, she also disclosed hubby's iPhone pw during the dinner. It's obvious - P can't keep secrets, haha!

Dear #2

Dear #2,

Papa and I went to the gynae today and saw the little you on the screen. Watching your tiny heart beating and hearing how it sounds really makes me the proudest mom in the world, especially when the gynae says you are looking great and healthy. This makes the wait at the gynae worth for papa, who kept badgering the staff on the waiting time. He's not a patient man, but he's a great papa. The scan put you at 6w2d, which was shorter than what I expected and calculated based on pregnancy apps. It feels like you've been there for much longer. EDD is tentatively on 10 June 2014, but I hope you can come out during the period after the exams and just before the June holidays (so you can celebrate with your friends in school).

Your elder sister is at grandma's place today, and that gave me the chance to do some bonding with you. We went to Bishan Park for an hour-long walk and I believed the fresh air did us both good. I saw people jogging and wished I could do the same. I missed the feeling of the heavy breathing and adrenaline rush. We came across couples strolling, families walking, dogs running, kids playing. We walked past the Powermoves at Bishan Park, and I contemplated whether to take up prenatal pilates. I have no courage to check on the pricing though, it's bound to be expensive. I could do more saving that sum up and buy diapers and formula milk for you next time. For the time being, you just have to make do with my walks in the gym, and hopefully I can find time to come to the park with you more often. 

Dear #2, the next time we see you will be in 5 weeks' time. Please stay safe and grow with us. I'm sure as you (and my tummy) grow, P will be speaking to you more often. She's at a chatty phase and says the funniest things. You will enjoy hearing her voice. Till we meet again.

Love, 

妈妈

8 Years Together

8 Oct 2005 - The day we got together. 

Fast forward 8 years later, we spent this day in a truly "memorable" way - A big quarrel complete with shouting and tears. The first time it happened on our get together anniversary, and hopefully the last. 

Totally disillusioned. 

Gynae visit

2 years ago, I spent hours poring over search engines and motherhood forums looking for the 'best' gynae in town. We finally settled on Dr. Adrian Woodworth because he is relatively well known in the online space, and that his clinic in Sengkang is quite near to my Hougang home then. 

With #2, what I looked for is no longer 'famous' gynaes, but rather the proximity to my current home. It's almost a no brainer that the AMK Hub gynae came to mind. Comments about her in the online space are scarce, and I didn't know what to expect. 

During the first visit, I didn't feel much difference than if I were to visit a normal GP. However, today's visit took me by surprise. Upon entering her office, she greeted me warmly with "Hi Jessica, how? Still irregular (referring to my 17-day delayed period)?" When I told her I tested positive, she was so so happy for me, and she remembered I was trying to conceive! She asked me for the first day of last menses and compared to a circular date chart, concluding that I should be in week 5-6 of pregnancy. She asked if I want to do a blood test or a scan, but warned me that we might not e able to see much during the scan as the pregnancy is still in early stages. 

Opted for the scan and it has to be done from below, but she did it very well and I didn't feel any discomfort. I liked the ultrasound set up in her clinic too. She had duplicate screens, one for her and another one diagonally above me, so I don't have to strain my neck trying to see what she was talking about. The first thing she checked was my uterus lining, which she said had thickened and that confirms I'm really pregnant. Then she tried looking for the water bag, but we only saw a small space that should develop into a water bag in a couple of weeks. She was also able to tell me that I ovulated on the right side as opposed to the left, and gave me assurance that she sees nothing that I should be concerned about. 

After the scan, she launched into a barrage of what I should not be eating (raw food, certain cheese etc) and to keep coffee/tea to one cup a day max. We discussed exercise options and to my relief, she passed walking on the treadmill, which means I can still continue going to the gym. There was to be no lifting of weights (I wonder if a 12kg toddler counts) and no jumping. Brisk walking is about the safest exercise, at least for the first trimester. 

The next visit is in 2 weeks' time. I can't wait already!

As Blue as Clearblue

Did the Clearblue test this morning, and the + sign appeared almost immediately. Things are looking up!

Some 2 years back, P's + sign came 9 days after I missed my period. I can hardly believe its been 2 years. 

And oh ya, I couldn't keep the news to myself and ended up telling hubby yesterday night. Happy news indeed :)