A little girl grew in me



30 March 2011

On the day of our anniversary, I had a strong feeling and so I tested... it was a positive!

6 April 2011: First glimpse of the little girl

Hello little girl!

Estimated to be 6 weeks old, so so tiny (3mm), she was barely the size of a cursor on screen.

We also heard her heartbeat for the first time. Strong, steady and wonderful. When I stole a peep at the Daddy and saw him grinning from ear to ear. His eyes lit up when we were informed that the little girl's EDD would be 30 November 2011. Hold on in there 2 more days and he would have the best birthday present ever!

24 days later, it was obvious our little girl had grow. So proud of her!

Still can't make out the shape of a baby. Also, the fact that a baby was living inside me had not sunk in yet. I felt and behave like i did before but reality was slowly kicking in each time we catch a glimpse of the little girl.

14 May 2011

You can make out the outline of her head and her hands although her legs are not yet developed. I felt incredibly happy just looking at this scan. EDD was brought forward to 25 November 2011 to Daddy's dismay!

20 June 211

By about this time, my bump became obvious to the eye and I could feel her. The first time I felt it, I was in a train, holding my bag on my lap. It was like a tickle at first but soon I realised it was my baby moving. Incredible feeling.

9 September 2011

It wasn't a 3D scan but the sonographer caught the image of her face by a stroke of luck. I took one look and immediately had a feeling she would resemble Daddy. Huge eyes, button nose and fishball cheeks!

When we were doing the scan, the little girl's left hand was resting on her left cheek. During the scan she moved both her hands to touch her cheeks and yawned a few times.. looked so comfortable and cozy in there!

At this visit, we were told that the little girl had already shifted into the correct position for natural birth.. What a good girl! Also, 1.34kg of what I carry around everyday is our precious little girl!



18 November 2011: Last glimpse of the little girl in my uterus



I suffered from withdrawl symptoms from not seeing the little girl for so long. At this scan, I was told that amniotic fluid was low (API 4-6cm) and advised to be induced to avoid complications.

So the plan was to be induced on 20 November 2011.  20.11.2011 what a nice date for a birthday.

She was 3.1kg and together, we were 56.5kg. At the last scan, the little girl Joy Joy was 2.2 kg and I was 55.6kg. So the 900g weight increase since then all went to her?

Not cool, KKH!

I read about the necessity to have regular scans close to EDD to monitor baby's position, water level, weight etc. I worried about the umbilical cord more than anything else, getting paranoid because of all that tossing and turning I do when I sleep.

I checked with friends who goes to gynaes at the same hospital and they confirmed that they were scanned to monitor the baby close to their due date. It was deemed necessary close to due date for a safe delivery.

I called the hospital on Monday and was told that they do not do scans close to EDD. I was asked what scan I had intended to get, the nurse even asked me if it was my first pregnancy. I struck me that they thought I was over anxious about it.  The nurse told me that, maybe, at private doctor in the hospital have scanning machines in their offices and so they just do it for the patient as a matter of course. At subsidized clinics, they do not do further tests after the detailed scan at week 32 unless they suspect a problem.

I wanted to do it anyway and after being on the phone with the nurse for some time, clearly and specifically asking for scans to monitor my baby for the purposes of delivery (particularly the umbilical cord and water level) I gave up explaining and just said "ok, I'm now insisting to be scanned, just schedule an appointment for me."

She said "I need to check with the doctor which scan we can give you, I will call you back".

Yesterday afternoon, I received a call from KKH and the same nurse told me "I've checked with the doctor and the only scan we can think of to give you is a 4 in 1 scan for checking fluid level, baby position, weight and (something I forgot) because there's really no other scan to give you". I couldn't be bothered to say more to her. I just agreed and said "ok, I'll go for that scan."

The scan today reveals that I have low amniotic fluid and it is necessary for me to deliver Joy Joy soon by inducing (!!). The doctor checked my cervix and said it is very soft and thin although not dilated yet. Considering that I am due in a week in any case, I was advised to go for induced birth within the next few days.

This and various bad experiences with the medical at the hospital is sufficient for me to never go back to the subsidized class again. Not if I can help it.

Everytime i see a gynae there, they ask me if I have any questions rather than provide me with medical information likely to pertain to that point in my pregnancy. If one is not the kind to read up when they feel that something is amiss, their condition would have been left untreated. I am given to think that the hospital treats subsidized patients in a production line manner and simply apply a set of fixed procedures coupled with a "you're overreacting" attitude because they have "seen it all". In situations like this, too much experience (with pregnant patients) is not a good thing.

Before I left the gynae's room today I asked her about epidural and birth plans but she said that I can ask the asthestist about epidural instead when I go into the delivery room. I am not sure if she didn't have the information, didn't want to tell me about the information or it's not her job to do it so I'm not getting the information.

I think the hospital neglects to take due care of their subsidized class patients. Customer service leaves much to be desired as well. Save for the exception of a few, most of the staff do not read my notes or any paper passed to them, they just asked me what I was there here for instead. Perhaps it is faster for them to ask but its not very pleasant for a patient to repeat a story at every department they go to.

Good read

Went to the library today to re-loan this book but they can't locate it for some warped reason. I later received a call from them, asking me to go collect after 3PM today (another trip out is sooooo tiring at this stage of my pregnancy). 

So far, the most comprehensive, easy to read breastfeeding book i've read.

Maybe, I should just buy it la!

Drought relief

True story.

Pregnancy makes my skin ultra ultra ultra dry (like a very severe skin drought) . So dry that it cracked and bleed. Scratching my skin and causing pain to myself is more relief than feeling the itch (I did a blood test, cleared for liver problems) but it resulted in a multitude of scratch marks on my body rather than stretch marks. Daddy said its painful for him to see me scratch myself, the wounds are really bad.

I have been going to dermatologists at the national skin centre for years and at one of my appointments I asked the doctor how i could relief the itch also particularly since I am pregnant and should avoid certain ingredients in skincare. Usually, the dermatologists are spot on with their medication but this time, nothing they prescribed could help me at all. I also tried other moisturisers  ( cetaphil, physio gel, QV etc etc etc) and no matter how potent they claim to be, they didn't give me any relief at all.

By accident, I found that the calendula from California Baby which we got for Joy Joy for nappy rash helped tremendously. But it is (very) expensive and I can't bear to use it on myself. I discovered the first sustainable itch relief from calamine lotion, which a doctor at KKH finally prescribed to me but it helped only with relieving itch for a few hours (after which I needed to re-apply to get relief) and caused me to have uber  dry skin.

And this is the only complete relief I found, after MANY MONTHS of suffering. The Gynae says it safe for use in pregnancy. Even on my thighs and tummy.

I bought this once many months ago and left it unused (at my own home) after two applications because it felt horrible on my then oily skin. In a moment of desperate need for relief whilst I was out, I bought it again when I saw that it was on promotion and really cheap and I'm so glad I did buy it.

I use it everywhere. On my face, neck and wherever needs moisturiser / itch relief and it makes my skin velvety soft (true story!) and very smooth to the touch, solved the dry skin, provided me TOTAL relief from the itch and my wounds are clearing up so quickly, I'm surprised.

So I am writing this down to remember it for the next time I am pregnant (we want two!) or in case anyone else suffers from the same problem.

This is, obviously, not an advert.

Joy Joy moves down

At my routine check yesterday (11.11.11!), the Gynae said that Joy Joy is moving further down the birth canal although my cervix is still closed. After examination, I lost more mucus plug.

Thought she was really gonna arrive when I had contractions timed at about 10 minutes apart initially which reduced to less than a minute apart. Maybe I walked a lot yesterday, when I sat down, the contractions stopped.

Walking also sent bouts of electric-shock like sensations shooting up the inner side of my right thigh, followed by numbness after that.I feel breathless easily, my palms are often swollen and lower thighs too. Sometimes drinking a lot of water solves the swollen palms and thigh problem within an hour or 2 but it didn't help last night and in typing this on my phone with swollen fingers.

I was telling Daddy yesterday that now I can feel the weight of Joy Joy's head resting on my right inner thigh / pelvic bone. I put my fist into the crook of his elbow and pressed down to try and show him how it feels like. Feeling this is incredible IMO, almost like carrying her in my arms.

37 Weeks

Joy Joy is FULL TERM now!
Her organ systems should be fully developed by now and she can be born anytime!

baby pictures at my desk

These are the pictures I put up at my workstation.

I love the black and white ones particularly.
Theres something about the picture of the new born baby. I really want to protect him.
And the little girl? She is just what I imagine Joy Joy to be. Cheeky and innocent.