32 Weeks: Maternity Photoshoot at D'Enfant

I am pretty excited this week because we are officially on the 8th month mark. 

26 Sep: Went to see Dr Ang and most probably this would be the last visit there as we had decided to deliver baby under Dr Tan at KKH. Baby was very cooperative and faced up and Dr Ang managed to get a 3D scan for her. According to baby's position on that day, Dr Ang said that about 90% chance, I am able to deliver baby vaginally. Dr Ang said baby's weight should be between 1.5 kg and 2 kg at 32 weeks. Baby's weight was good! She was approximately 2.14 kg. I felt kind of sad that this would be our last visit to Dr Ang. He had actually helped us quite a bit. I wanted to have a proper closure with him but I just didn't have the courage to do so.

Had a nice dinner and catch up session with my primary school classmates at Westgate. 

27 Sep: Scheduled maternity photoshoot at D'Enfant at Johor Bahru, Malaysia. I was very excited about it. We left our house at 9.30 am as the photoshoot was scheduled to be at 10.30 am. But sometimes things in life are so unpredictable. We met with a massive jam at the Singapore custom and were stuck in the jam for about 2 hours. The jam was due to a malfunction of the system. Yeah talk about efficiency huh. 

We finally reached D'Enfant at 12.30 pm. We were very sorry that we were this late as they had another scheduled photoshoot at 2 pm. However, they were very professional about it and upon our arrival, the makeup artist immediately started putting on my makeup and they had also made arrangement for the other party to come at a later time. 

The makeup artist also helped us mix and match the outfits that we brought along. The photoshoot went on smoothly. To my little surprise, the makeup artist actually changed my hairdo thrice for the 3 different outfits. I thought it was indicated in the package that it was only 1 hairdo. 

Had to wait for 2 weeks to select the photographs.

31 Weeks: Slowing Down and More Relaxation

This week we kind of slowed down on our purchases for baby darling as there will be big scale mummy's fair in October. We are waiting for the fair to get good deals for baby darling.

Went for my regular swim again and I improved by swimming a few more laps than my previous swim. After my swim, we went back to my mum's place and had a nutritious dinner. My mum is a real iron chef! :)

My cough was very persistent and I just kept coughing away when I was at work. Almost cough my lungs out whenever I cough. Too much phlegm and I'm someone who doesn't know how to spit out the phlegm. :(

Finally I couldn't take it and decided to take a day's leave on Thursday to give myself some rest and to go to see a TCM doctor for my persistent cough.

I wouldn't say the food is fantastic, given the price. Among the food that we ordered, I think only the beef tenderloin and creme brulee were good. My aglio olio was such a disappointment! The cheesecake was a little hard.

30 Weeks: Collection of Old Clothes for Baby Darling

According to some Chinese belief, people say newborns need to wear some hands-me-down clothes so that they will grow up and it will be easier to raise them up and handle them. Due to this belief, we decided to collect some old clothes for baby darling though we had bought quite a number of new clothes for her. We went to B's cousin's house to inherit her daughter's old clothes. At the same time, we also took a look at their baby cot which they claimed to be as good as new. However, after seeing the baby cot, I had my reservation to inherit the baby cot. First of all, it wasn't as good as new according to my expectation. Secondly, her daughter suddenly just jumped up onto the cot's side grilled bar and I got a shock. No doubt she had done her "quality check" for us but I'm still pretty concerned with the wear and tear issue. So I told B that we should get a brand new cot for baby darling as anything pertaining to her safety, I do not wish to compromise at all. 

We also went to Ikea to look for cabinets to store baby darling's stuff. But we couldn't find anything that was nice so in the end we bought these plastic storage boxes from Citylife Trend at Giant Supermarket. 

I fell sick again and went to see a GP. He prescribed me the same medicine that I took when I fell sick at 20 weeks. 

But I was not recovering. :( Cough was getting worse. Thanks to 2 chocolate chips cookies that I ate! 

Hope I recover soon! :)

給寶寶的日記第二十八篇

親愛的寶寶，

昨天爸爸吃你的醋了。他說我愛你比愛他還多。可是寶寶，你們兩個我都一樣愛！手心、手背都是肉啊！

寶寶，其實我希望你愛爸爸多一點。我也希望爸爸愛你多一點。

再多幾個星期，我們就能夠看到你了！你也可以看到我們了。你興奮嗎？我們很期待你的到來喔！

寶寶，你的表現很好喲！要繼續努力、加油！要和媽媽一起合作喔！我們一起撐到至少三十八周才讓媽媽分娩，好不好？媽媽在分娩的時候，要和媽媽一起努力、一起加油喔！這樣才能順順利利、平平安安地把你生下來呀，讓你好好的看看這個世界！：）

寶寶，媽媽非常愛你！

29 Weeks: More Items for Baby Darling

This week, we went shopping for baby darling's stuff again. We heard that Baby Hyperstore would be having sales over the weekends. We made a trip down and the objective was to get a car seat and stroller for baby darling. 

We asked the staff for recommendations and she recommended 2 brands: Maxi Cosi and Inglesina. Initially we wanted to save costs and that was to buy a car seat that could accommodate baby from 0 to 4 years old. Then I saw a Maxi Cosi bassinet and stroller set and thought it looked very compact and convenient. After enquiring the price which was $800, it was way too expensive in our opinion. Then I started asking the staff if they have similar combination but at a lower price. She told us that currently they were having this sale and that was if we buy a stroller, we can buy a bassinet at $200. 

B loves the Quinny strollers. He always has. So we asked if there is any Quinny stroller that allows front and back facing and the staff recommended Quinny Zapp Xtra. It is a very light weight stroller and for the first time, I thought it looks nice. Before this, I have always loved Capella strollers. What's more, the price of this Quinny stroller is only at $399. Definitely a steal! As long as we don't choose a design/colour that is this year's collection, we do not need to pay a premium for it. :) We chose rocking black colour (last year's collection) as this is the nicest colour out of the available colours.

As for the bassinet, I personally prefer the Maxi Cosi ones. According to the staff, Maxi Cosi and Quinny are actually from the same company. So any Maxi Cosi bassinet can be attached to any Quinny stroller as long as there is adapter. Well, Quinny Zapp Xtra comes with the adapter so we need not buy separately. As the name suggests, a bassinet generally can only accommodate baby from 0 to 9 months or 12 months (maximum), depending how fast our baby darling grows. By then, we will need to scout for another car seat for her. I asked B if it's too troublesome and we have to spend again for another car seat. His reply came as a surprise. He said actually for those car seats that can accommodate from 0 to 4 years old, the design itself has been compromised. So he thinks that by buying car seat that accommodates to the different stages of baby darling, it's safer and design wise is not compromised. So we chose a red coloured (last year's collections) bassinet for baby darling and I think it matches the rocking black coloured Quinny stroller perfectly. 

Very proud of myself for finding such a good deal. This whole ala carte mix & match combination only costs us $599.

Also we bought 2 bed linen sets for baby darling at $99 each. Each set comes with 2 pillows, 2 bolsters, 1 blanket, 1 bedsheet and 1 bumper. 

I started swimming as I got heavier. Swimming really does help to relieve some of the weight gained. They say regular exercising can help to have a smooth delivery and keep my weight in check.

We also had our routine check up with Dr Tan at KKH on 9th September 2014. We always feel at ease with Dr Tan each time we see him. He always makes us feel very comfortable. On that day, he awarded B to be the most well dressed husband among all his patients' husbands. He's so funny, right? 

After our routine check up, we went to IMM at Jurong East just to shop around. Guess what? Gelare is having 50% off on any waffle every Tuesday! 

We also bought a few story books for baby darling. :)

Praying hard everyday to God that He will give us His blessings for me to carry baby darling to full term at least 38 weeks before I deliver her. Praying for the whole delivery process to be the most natural, most safe, most smooth and most painless one for us. Thank you, Lord! Hallelujah!

28 Weeks: Eventful Week

We went to see Dr Ang for our routine check up on 29th August 2014. Baby was weighing 1.285 kg. According to Dr Ang, baby should weigh around 1 to 1.3 kg at week 28. I seemed to lose 1 kg from my last measurement. 

Dr Ang also briefed us on the costings for the various methods of delivery. We haven't really decided where to deliver.

On 30th August, I met up with 2 BFFs at Marche at Somerset 313. We had a nice catch-up with one another and enjoyed the delicious food offered there. 

Other than those, this week I also bought quite a number of things for baby darling online via Qoo10, especially scarf bibs. I bought a total of 27 scarf bibs for baby. I love scarf bibs as I think it can double up as an accessory. Hope baby darling likes it too! :)

Baby darling, daddy and mummy are really prepping ourselves to welcome your arrival! :) Everything that we had bought for you is always bought with lots of ♡.  We hope you will love every little gift that we had bought for you. God bless and love you! :)

27 Weeks: Maternity & Newborn Photoshoot Booked

I've been scouting for maternity and newborn photoshoot packages as I want to capture these beautiful moments of my pregnancy and baby's newborn look and expressions. I had enquired a few and finally I signed up the maternity and newborn photoshoot packages with D'Enfant in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. This studio was first introduced to me back in 2012 when my ex boss brought his family members over there and the quality of work was fantastic! I love the studio setup and the photography style, mainly using natural lighting.

However, after signing up the packages, it kind of dawned on me that how I am going to get baby darling's passport done within 2 weeks after her birth and whether it is safe to bring her over to Johor Bahru since she's still so young and her immune system may not be that strong yet as they were saying for newborn looks, it's best to capture them within the first 2 weeks. But I'd signed the package and placed the deposit. If I were to cancel the package, I'll have to forfeit the deposit. 

Over the weekends, there was a Super Mom Bazaar at Suntec City Mall. As we were walking around, I chanced upon this Korean photography studio called BabyU. I took a look at their works and I love it a lot. Again I'm in love with the natural settings, lighting and soft touch of the photos. They were having promotion and the package cost $130 $99 upon signing up at the booth. For more details of the packages, please go to: Baby U International Photo Studio

I signed this up as a backup plan. But in the end, I realised I made the right choice to sign because at least this studio is based in Singapore and its location is very near to where I am staying. I believe bringing baby out for a short while within a short distance, it should be fine. 

At the bazaar, we also bought a play mat and a carrier with hipster seat for baby darling. It turned out that the carrier's brand is from Korea. Looks like I'm a Korean infatuated mama! Haha!

We were deciding between Ergo Baby carrier and this I-Angel carrier. We had decided to go for this hipster seat carrier as it is more ergonomic for baby darling and us. At least some of baby's weight will be transferred to the hipster seat and it won't be that strenuous on our shoulders and back when we carry her around. 

At the same time, I'd also booked a postnatal massage package done by a Malay masseur. Her charges are quite cheap as compared to others. 7 sessions at $450. She will be using lemongrass oil to massage from head to toe and then apply Jamu paste or ginger lotion on the tummy and use a binding cloth to wrap my tummy for at least 6 hours. The purpose of doing this postnatal massage is to help to push the uterus back in place after giving birth and also to aid in slimming down. 

Baby darling, we are all so excited about you! Love you lots! :)

26 Weeks: Tracking Baby's Movement

Ever since that Friday where I felt less of baby's movement, I began to track her movements everyday since the beginning of week 26. 

Nurse told me that as long as baby moves 8 to 10 times within 12 hours, she is fine. As troublesome as it might seem to be, I actually enjoy tracking her movements. I can actually see a pattern forming like when she's very active and when she's sleeping.

Baby darling, words are not able to describe how much love I have for you! I just want you to be well, to be healthy, to be normal, to be strong, to be safe and to be happy everyday. I hope I am able to raise you to be a useful person, someone who is of high integrity, perseverance, disciplined and passionate in whatever things that you do. I love you, darling! :)

25 Weeks: Our First National Day with You

Dearest baby darling,

9th August is Singapore's 49th birthday! This is the first time we are celebrating this special occasion with you. Though you are still growing inside mama, we can feel your excitement that this is our country's big day!

Papa and mama hope that you will be a good citizen and do your part to contribute to society in every way you can. 

On a side note, on 8th August, mama had a scare as I didn't feel you much throughout the day. So after our antenatal class at KKH, we decided to check you out. We went to the delivery suite and the nurse asked mama to go into a room where they monitored your heartbeat. It is always such a relief to hear your galloping heartbeat. We were in the room for about half an hour. After that, a doctor came to us and did a scan for you. There you were kicking mama, but somehow I did not feel anything. After much assurance from the doctor that you are doing well, I got discharged. 

Baby darling, please continue to stay strong and mama has been praying to God to watch over you and protect you from any harm. 

Papa and mama love you a lot! :)

24 Weeks: Routine Check Ups

Officially on the 6 months mark. Happy! On the first day of this week, we had an appointment with Dr Lawrence Ang and we had decided to sign up his antenatal package, which only costs about $550 and this amount can be offset from all the previous amounts that I had paid for the impromptu visits. Dr Ang delivers at either Thomson Medical Centre or Mount Alvernia Hospital. On the other hand, we have our primary gynae, Dr Tan Heng Hao at KKH. Kind of in a dilemma which hospital to deliver our baby darling and also under which gynae's hands.

At Dr Ang's clinic on 1 Aug 2014, baby darling was good and he offered to do  a 3D scan for us but too bad, baby darling was in the bridge position which he couldn't do the 3D scan. He said he would try again on the next visit. Baby weighed about 872g on that day.

On 5 Aug 2014, we had another appointment with our primary gynae, Dr Tan at KKH. Baby was good too and according to Dr Tan, baby weighed about 800 plus grams. However, Dr Tan looked kind of tired and restless on that day and he wasn't as chatty as he used to be. My urine tested that my glucose level was slightly on the high side but maybe due to I had just drunk a cup of hot honey lemon prior to testing my urine. Time to keep my glucose level in check.

Nonetheless, I am very happy that everything is good. Looking forward to seeing you, baby darling in November! Daddy and mummy love you lots and God loves you lots too! :)

23 Weeks: Baby Darling's Move Simply Mesmerise Me

23 weeks here we come! The feeling of having a life growing inside me is simply AMAZING! I guess this is something that the husband will never ever get to experience unless God has decided to design for men to be pregnant one day instead. 

As baby darling is growing bigger each day, I can feel her movements more and one of the nights, I managed to capture her in action! I'm definitely so thrilled to see her in action. :)

Baby darling, I love you so so so much! :)

22 Weeks: New Clothes for Baby Darling

I am getting more and more tired easily. We also have started buying some new clothes for baby. Most of them are 0-3 months sleep suits and rompers. We have scouted for a stroller but Grandma M dissuades us to buy now because she feels that we should only get the stroller after baby is delivered. I can feel her movements more this week.

Baby darling, daddy and mummy love you lots! :)

Letter #27 to Baby Darling

Dearest Baby Darling, 

Daddy and mummy can really feel you move now! We are just so excited and happy! It's so amazing! 

You are a strong baby and daddy also praises you that you are a no nonsense baby. 

We have also decided on your name! Aren't you just as excited as we are? 

Yesterday, we went to buy a few clothes for you and you were kicking so excitedly! We are going to have more things for you! :) 

Baby, we love you a lot and we are so so looking forward to your arrival in November! :)

21 Weeks: Baby is moving moving!

This week I am feeling baby's movement more. I am so thrilled and happy to feel her. Papa B is very excited too! He touches my tummy and starts talking to baby darling. :) It's just so touching to see B engaging with baby darling. He told me he can feel the presence of baby darling now. 

We have also started buying stuffs to prepare for our darling's arrival. Breast pump, warmer, portable warmer, steriliser and milk bottles bought. More stuff to be bought soon. 

We are also attending prenatal classes to equip ourselves the skills to take good care of baby and our first lesson will start tomorrow! Yeah! :)

An observation made when we were buying stuffs for baby. I kind of get turn off when I see pinky stuffs. Haha! 

Baby darling, please continue to grow well, healthily, normally, strongly, steadily and safely everyday. 

God, please continue to watch over our baby darling, protect her from any harm and bless her to grow well, healthily, normally, strongly, steadily and safely everyday! Amen!

20 Weeks: White Discharge is Infection

On Saturday, KKH called and informed me that the white discharge was some fungus infection. It wasn't anything serious and will not harm our baby. We went to KKH to take the prescription. The medicine is some kind of pressaries to be inserted into the vagina.

I really hope there is no such pain episode anymore till I deliver our baby darling. It really scared the hell out of me. I pray to God to protect our baby darling from any harm. We love you lots baby darling! Please stay strong for yourself and us okie?

We can really feel baby's movement this week. She is relatively active in the night. :)

20 Weeks: What Happened?

Yes I am now midway through my whole journey and yesterday marked the beginning of my 20 weeks. 

I woke up, took my weekly bump photo and went to work as usual. I felt a sudden, sharp and acute pain at my lower abdomen in office and it was contant and lasted for an hour plus. I even had difficulty walking. I tried walking to the toilet to check. There was no bleeding and I urinated as per normal. I cried in my office and my colleagues were very concerned. I called B to come and fetch me. My colleagues even wheeled me to B who took my car. 

We went to KKH O&G. The female doctor who saw me was very young. She didn't do an ultrasound. She only used a doppler to hear baby's heartbeat. She took quite a while before she could capture baby's heartbeat as baby was moving and turning a lot. She also checked my cervix. There was no bleeding, no water leaking but there were quite a lot of white discharge according to the doctor. She took a specimen of the white discharge for further examination as she was worried that there might be infection. She also prescribed me utrogestan to support the pregnancy and paracetamol for pain. She gave me 4 days of mc to rest. She commented sometimes it could be due to uterus expanding that caused the pain. She termed my case as a threatened miscarriage.

However I need a reassurance from someone experienced. I requested to see Dr Tan but for KKH, it is always difficult to see him if we do not have prior appointment. So we went to Dr Ang. He did an ultrasound for me and baby was fine. He commented that baby's position is a bit low but the placenta is not. The pain could also be due to muscles stretching. He did not check my cervix since KKH had done it for me. However from the ultrasound, he could see that the cervix is closed. Water bag is good. Womb is soft which is good because if it's hardened, contraction will kick in. What he doesn't want is the intermittent pain. He asked me to rest and monitor. If the pain doesn't come back after resting for a few days, then I can resume my normal activities. 

Lord, please continue to watch over our baby darling and protect her from any harm. Please continue to bless her to grow well, healthily, normally, strongly, steadily and safely everyday. In your most precious name, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

19 Weeks: Detailed Scan

Baby is amazing today! The sonographer could scan everything except baby's spine as baby needs to be in the facing down position. My baby always like to lie on her back which is good for the sonographer to scan most of her parts. Then the sonographer said if she cannot scan baby's spine today, we will have to come back next week to scan the spine as she can't let us walk around and scan again as we have an appointment with Dr Tan and we will miss it. Upon hearing that, baby turned and face downwards and let the sonographer scan her spine. So we told the sonographer that baby must have heard us and she doesn't want us to waste one more trip down. We also told the sonographer that baby has been a very obedient and cooperative baby. I didn't really have much morning sickness. Today the sonographer said 80% baby is a girl. She said cannot see 小弟弟. If that's the case, why is it not 100% sure? Haha! Anyway in my detailed scan report, it is reported that gender of baby is female. Dr Tan said baby is very healthy and everything is normal. DH and I are very happy to hear that! :) Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!

To have a baby girl is God's will for us. We will gladly accept it. I thank God everyday for bringing baby darling into our life. It's amazing everyday to have a little life growing inside me! :) 

Baby darling, we love you lots lots lots to infinity! :) 

18 Weeks: Still No Sign of Recovery

After taking medicine for two days, I was paranoid and worried about baby darling. I decided to just walk in to my backup gynae and have a check on baby.

Baby was fine and gynae could see that I was pretty sick and gave me another 3 days of MC. 

My sickness got worse when I woke up the next day and I decided to visit the GP again. This time round, he changed my medication and prescribed me antibiotics. 

My nose was very congested and I kept blowing it until my nose bled. 

I really prayed that my sickness will recover soon as I do not wish my sickness to drag any longer to avoid affecting baby. 

17 Weeks: Falling Sick

I had been sick since 18 June and I am not recovering. On Sunday, 22 June when my mother-in-law saw me, she commented that I looked quite sick and asked me to see a doctor and off I went to see the doctor. GP prescribed me Piriton, Dhasedyl and Trachisan and gave me 2 days MC. I wanted to fight the bugs and recover by myself without taking any medication as i was worried the medication might affect baby's health but I failed to recover by myself.

Basically the next two days, I was just sleeping and sleeping and only waking up to eat and take medicine. 

16 Weeks: Baby's Growth

On 10 Jun, we went to see Dr Tan at KKH for our routine scan. It was one of the most funny consultation that we had. All because it started from DH's wearing a coat and thinking how to go about asking Dr Tan the embarrassing question, "is having sex safe during pregnancy?"

During the scan, Dr Tan commented that baby was measuring at about 10 cm. I was actually a bit worried because at 15 weeks, we went to see Dr Ang and baby was measuring at 9.59 cm. In another words, baby only grew 0.5 cm in a week which I thought it was a bit slow. Baby should be about 11 cm according to the baby's growth chart at 16 weeks. 

God, I really pray that baby will continue to grow healthily, normally, strongly, steadily and safely everyday. 

15 Weeks: Baby's Gender

My mum, MIL, MIL's bestie who is a Malay lady and DH's aunt predicted our baby is a boy at around week 9/10, which I found it amazing at that time because I don't know how they judge to predict the gender. MIL's bestie was so confident that she even wanted to make a bet on it but we didn't take up the bet because we find that we should not bet on such things. Only DH's niece who is about 13 years old and Dr Zou predicted our baby is a girl. When asked why she predicted a girl, DH's niece said it's just a lucky guess. 

Today we went to see Dr Ang. Baby is good and measuring at 9.59 cm at 15 weeks 0 day. Dr Ang tried to see the gender but due to baby's position (face facing downwards & legs covering the genital area), he said about 60-70% baby is a girl. Later on, he commented that need to wait until detailed scan to confirm. He once again commented that baby is very stable which is very reassuring and he gave us green light to go overseas, drink coffee (which I don't drink at all even before preggy coz I'm allergic to caffeine). He also commented that my appetite should come back and baby bump should start to show when baby is about 5 months. I didn't tell him anything about my appetite and I guess he still can't see my baby bump. Today I weigh 48.1 kg. Gain about 1.6 kg from my last weight at KKH ADC which was 46.5 kg on 14 May. 

After that, we went to see Dr Zou. It's been like 3 weeks since I last saw her. When we told her baby could be a girl, she commented that it's good to have a daughter, we will know in the future. We showed her the printout of baby's position and she said it's hard to tell the gender from that position. Then DH asked her about when to start to prepare to try for second child, she advised it's best to breast feed the first child for 10 months then can start preparing to try for second child. 

Dearest Baby Darling, 

We are very proud of you again today. You must continue to grow well, healthily, normally, strongly, steadily and safely everyday. I ask God to watch over you, protect you. Daddy and mummy love you very very very much! :)

Dearest God,

Thank you once again for creating our little miracle. He/she is definitely the most amazing and wonderful gift that you have given to us! Oh Lord, please continue to bless our baby to grow well and the heart will continue to beat strongly everyday. I pray in your most precious name, Jesus Christ. Amen! 

12 Weeks 5 Days: Oscar Scan

Yesterday we went for our baby darling's Oscar scan. Baby was very cooperative (Well done, baby darling! We are so so so proud of you! ) and let the sonographer did whatever she wanted. I asked if baby was sleeping as I could see the heartbeat and baby wasn't moving much. She said yes baby was sleeping. Shortly after she had commented, baby woke up and started moving and kicking. It was such an amazing sight! :) The sonographer showed us baby's brain, hands, feet, thigh, heart, stomach, neck. 

After the scan, we had a review session with the doctor on duty. Baby and I are in the low risk category. YEAH!!! We PASSED the test!!! :) Another milestone cleared! 

Wanna thank God for protecting baby and blessing him/her. We pray that baby will be healthy, normal and strong everyday! In your most precious name, Jesus Christ. Amen! 

After I reached home, I took a look at the embryos photos and every scan photo that we had. Baby has grown so much!  It's so simply touching when I see baby darling's progress and growth development. Isn't life amazing? 

Letter #26 to Baby Darling

Baby Darling,

How have you been? Have you been growing and developing well? Mummy really hopes you are yah. 

Just 2 more days. Daddy and mummy can see you via the scan again on 14 May. Don't forget our date and your heart must continue to beat strongly when we see you. You must say hi to us, okie? This time, this scan is meant for checking if you are low or high risk for Down Syndrome. Baby darling, let's embrace the test and pass the test together okie? Mummy just wants you to be healthy and normal baby. 

Baby darling, please grow well, healthily, normally and strongly everyday.

Dear God,

Please continue to protect our little one from any harm. Please continue to bless our little one to have good health and a strong body. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen! 

Letter #25 to Baby Darling

Baby Darling,

Yesterday daddy and mummy had decided to go to a private gynae, Dr Lawrence Ang for a scan to see how you are doing. To our surprise, you were 11 weeks 2 days old, measuring at 4.68 cm and your EDD had brought forward to 17 Nov. Just last week on 22 Apr, when Dr Tan did the scan, you were 9 weeks 2 days old, measuring 2.7 cm and your EDD was 23 Nov. In a week's time, you have grown so much and daddy and mummy could also see your heartbeat and legs kicking and kicking. Dr Ang said usually when babies can move at this stage, the pregnancy is about 99% stable and he commented that you are a strong baby. :) He also said we can announce to the world that mummy is pregnant. 

Baby Darling, please continue to grow healthily, normally, strongly, steadily and safely everyday. We are really looking forward to your arrival in Nov.

Dear Almighty God, please continue to bless and protect baby from any harm. I pray that you will continue to bless baby to continue to grow healthily, normally, strongly, steadily and safely everyday. In Jesus's name I pray, amen! 

Letter #24 to Baby Darling

Hello Baby Darling,

Daddy and mummy are so proud of you today again! :)

Today Dr Tan did the scan for you personally. You know Dr Tan is the doctor who assisted us so much. We saw you and saw your flickering heartbeat. Yeah! Dr Tan said you are measuring at 9 weeks 2 days and you are 2.7 cm long. Your EDD now has been pushed backwards to 23 Nov 2014.

Today mummy also took the test for the Oscar Test. Baby Darling, we must pass this test together okay?

After seeing Dr Tan today, we will only get to see him 7 weeks later as in between which is on 14 May, we are going to do a scan for the Oscar Test. Baby Darling, we must pass the scan test together too, okay?

After the visit at KKH, we went to Dr Zou and she recommended us to drink turtle soup. She said there are a lot of collagen and protein. Daddy and mummy actually went to try out the soup. It was mummy's virgin try. Mummy will do and eat anything for you as long as it benefits you. So Baby Darling, you must continue to grow healthily, strongly, normally and safely everyday, okay? We are all anticipating your arrival in November 2014.

Jiayou, baby darling! Daddy and mummy love you so so so much! :)

Week 8

Nauseated, nauseated and nothing to vomit.

Tired, tired and cannot sleep.

Hungry, hungry and no appetite.

Burp, burp and like nobody's business.

Fart, fart and so smelly.

Bloated, bloated and cannot walk.

Breath, breathe and short of breath.

Week 7

I just saw baby darling at KKH O&G. The sound of the heartbeat was so assuring! :) Baby darling, mummy is so so so proud of you! You have grown so much since the last time we saw you. Great! Keep up the good work! You must continue to grow healthily, normally and strongly okay? Mummy loves you so so so much!

Mummy must learn to bear with the cramps as mummy knows it is due to you are growing and mummy's uterus needs to make space for you. 

Baby darling, mummy will cheer on for you and you must cheer on for mummy too okie? :)

Mummy also wants to thank God for this wonderful gift! Thank you, Lord for hearing our prayers and bless us with this wonderful gift! We love you God and pray that You will continue to bless and protect our little miracle that he/she will continue to grow healthily, normally and strongly each day! In your most precious name, we pray! Amen!

Week 6 & 7

I have never been pregnant so there are a lot of things which I do not know what to anticipate. 

I don't really have much pregnancy symptoms except feeling crampy at times, bloated and burping lots after meals.

On 2 April, we saw baby's heartbeat. We were really thrilled! Our next scan will be on 22 April, which is 3 weeks later. I am so so tempted to book a private gynae to do a scan to make sure baby is doing well before my scheduled scan at KKH.

I really pray hard that God will continue to bless and protect our little miracle who is created by Him to grow normally, healthily and strongly each day.

Letter #23 to Baby Darling

My dearest baby darling,

Mummy was so proud of you on 2 April. Your performance on that day was excellent! Daddy and mummy were so thrilled to see your heartbeat on the monitor. Dr Tan said you were 6.6 weeks old and your size was about 7 mm and your expected arrival to this world will be on 21 November 2014. Daddy and mummy are really looking forward to that day. :)

You must continue to cooperate with God and mummy so that you will continue to grow healthily, normally and strongly inside mummy's womb. Our next date will be on 22 April. Remember our date okie, darling? On that day, I believe Dr Tan will be the one doing the scan for mummy. So you must say hi to Dr Tan, daddy and mummy on that day by pounding your heart strong, okie? Daddy and mummy love you so so much! <3 On 22 April, mummy also needs to do a blood test for Oscar test. This test is to check if you are developing normally. So let's embrace the test and pass the test together.

Baby darling, we must also continue to thank God for His graciousness, mercy, helpfulness on us! 

Thank you, God!

Dear God,

Thank you for having mercy on us! Thank you for creating this little miracle and allowing us to have this little miracle! 

Lord, I know all the obstacles are temporary tests of our faith in You. We will continue to trust in You for You are always here with us! Be not afraid for everything is possible with God! 

I wanna thank You again for blessing and protecting our little one! 

Almighty Father, I pray that You will continue to bless and protect our little miracle and bless us to have a safe, smooth, normal, viable pregnancy all the way!

I love You so much, Lord!

Amen! 

給寶寶的日記第二十二篇

寶寶：

今天媽媽很開心喔！因為你很乖，一直都有在聽媽媽的話。你今天的表現真的很棒喔！不愧是媽媽的好孩子耶！上帝也幫了我們不少的忙喔！上帝一直都有在照顧你、保佑你、守護著你，讓你很安全地在媽媽的子宮裡面成長。我們一定要感謝上帝一直在保護著你，知不知道？

因為根據醫生的推斷，你只有五個星期又三天大，暫時還看不到你的心跳。醫生要媽媽下個星期三回去再做掃描，到時你一定要讓醫生看到你強而有力的心跳喔！這也是你跟醫生、媽媽和爸爸說＂嗨＂的方式喔！

寶貝，你是上帝帶給爸爸和媽媽的奇蹟！撐住，千千萬萬不要放手喔！我們下個星期三見咯！：）

給寶寶的日記第二十一篇

寶寶：

你們還在嗎？那天是媽媽的錯！完完全全都是媽媽的錯。媽媽真的很後悔為甚麼那天要那樣做。寶寶，你們原諒媽媽，好不好？

爸爸和媽媽是很期待你們的到來的。我們等了你們三年！真的好不容易等到你們了，現在有又很害怕失去你們，因為一些數據對你們很不利。所以如果你們要在爸爸和媽媽身邊的活，一定不能放手，知道嗎？

這個星期五的掃描，一定要出現在媽媽的子宮裡面，大聲的跟媽媽、爸爸和醫生說＂嗨＂喔！你們要在媽媽的子宮裡面才能健健康康的成長。

God, I'm Sorry!

Dear God,

I've truly sinned through my own thoughts and actions on 13 March and 17 March that have resulted in today's plight.

I'm truly sorry and Lord, have mercy on me and please give me another chance to see my baby/babies with flickering heartbeats on 28 March.

Father, I don't want to lose my baby/babies for I've waited very long for them. I know I was at fault for not being careful and gave in to temptation. I want to redeem myself and I promise I will not sin again. God, please don't take my baby/babies away. Please continue to let this pregnancy to be a normal and viable one! 

I promise I will be a good mama if You are willing to let me continue to have this pregnancy.

Lord, have mercy on me and hear my prayers! Amen!

給寶寶的日記第二十篇

親愛的寶寶：

上個星期，你們真的是把媽媽給嚇壞了。自從媽媽知道自己懷孕了，爸爸和媽媽真的很開心！因為我們真的等了你們很久！

可是偏偏媽媽一直在流血。寶寶，你們要生長在媽媽的子宮裡面，知不知道？不可以跑到其他地方去，知不知道？上個星期，媽媽還住院了。

寶寶，不要讓媽媽擔心，好不好？答應媽媽，這個星期五在做掃描的時候，一定要出現在媽媽的子宮裡面跟媽媽說聲＂嗨＂喔！

媽媽也一直跟上帝禱告，請求上帝一定要保佑你們好好的！

寶寶，你們要加油到底，好不好？就算現在局勢看起來並不是很妙，但是媽媽堅信你們一定會在媽媽的子宮裡面出現！

寶寶，加油！加油！加油！

18dp2dt to 22dp2dt

18dp2dt (17 March):

Went to KKH to redo my blood test. Got the result and the HCG was at 1015.1. My spotting went downhill with red blood at 9 pm. I had pain on the left side of my lower abdomen. I couldn't sleep with the pain and decided to go to KKH O&G on Tuesday 5 am.

19dp2dt (18 March):

When I reached KKH O&G, they gave me a painkiller jab to ease the pain. They sent me for ultrasound scan at 8.30 am. They saw 2 masses adjacent to my right and left ovary. They were not able to determine what they were. They had me admitted to KKH for further observations. I was on IV drip the whole day as instructed by Dr Tan as I might need to go for operation. They were suspecting that it could be an ectopic pregnancy. I was also given antibiotics that needed to be injected into the veins. Oh my, that was real painful! The abdomen pain seemed to have stopped and the bleeding seemed minimal throughout the whole day. I had the best sleep that night in the hospital ever since ET.

20dp2dt (19 March):

Early in the morning, a doctor came to take my blood for the test and oh my, it was the most painful one so far. At 9 am, Dr Tan came to see me and said that the HCG level had dropped. My heart kind of sank. He only commented that sometimes in a twins pregnancy, the HCG level does fluctuate and he didn't want to take it as the gospel truth that it meant that the pregnancy is no longer there. However, he didn't want to rule out the possiblities of a twins pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, heterotopic pregnancy and missed miscarriage. 

21dp2dt (20 March):
Bleeding was very minimal. No abdominal pain. 

22dp2dt (21 March):
No bleeding and no abdominal pain. They took my blood again to test and my level went up to 1572.5 from 809.2. Dr Tan came to see me before I was discharged. He still didn't rule out the 4 possibilities and commented that an ultrasound scan will be able to tell. He also commented the rise in the HCG could be because we put in 2 embryos and they are independent. They secrete the hormones separately. 

My almighty God, please continue to bless my baby/babies and let this be a viable pregnancy for the next 10 months. Let my baby/babies show up in my uterus on the ultrasound scan on 28 March with flickering heartbeats. God, please make this happen! Lord, have mercy on us! In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we pray! Amen!

16dp2dt

I went to KKH O&G on Saturday morning at 3 am as I felt that my spotting got a little worse. I made a call to TMC as I was warned by Dr Zou that KKH usually will not give progesterone shot for additional support. However, TMC told us that it would be hard for them to administer the shot by their GP since I'm not their patient.

As expected, the doctor on duty at KKH did not want to give me the shot when I requested for it. He used a speculum to check my vaginal and commented that my cervix was not opened. He only instructed me to increase my oral progesterone to 3 times daily instead of 2 times daily.

I had cramps on the lower abdomen after lunch and on Saturday afternoon at around 5 plus, the amount of blood seen on the toilet paper was quite substantial and I had to callDr Zou for help. She recommended a gynae, Dr Michele Lee and asked me to go to TMC.

After I reached TMC, the nurse was very friendly, registered for me and brought me to lie down on the bed in the treatment room while she called Dr Lee. Dr Lee decided to come down and see me. So nice of her to come and see me on a Saturday night and when I'm not even her patient! :)

After she arrived, again she used the speculum to check my vaginL and commented that my cervix was not opened. She said the spotting could be due to the placenta is developing. She administered the progesterone shot for me and gave me her name card and said that if my blood test result doubles today and KKH still doesn't want to give any additional support, I can go to her clinic to see her.

I have been monitoring my spotting ever since the shot and it seems to get better. 

The Judgement Day

Today is the long awaited blood test day. We reached KKH at around 10 am. My blood was taken at 11.15 am. I told the nurse that I had light pink spotting since last night and she smilingly told me that she would process my blood test as urgent in case I needed additional support. That was very nice of her, I thought! :)

While she was taking my blood, she told me that I have a very nice name and started telling me that she has three daughters, namely Cheryl, Celine and Christine. She said if she has a fourth daughter, she would name her my name. Wow that was quite a compliment, wasn't it?

After having my blood taken, we proceeded to the sperm bank to check with the embryologist on the number of frozen embryos. I was very delighted to find out that I have four embryos to be frozen - 2 grade 4 and 2 grade 3. The other 2 were arrested at D4 of culture. Think they were trying to culture them into blastocysts and the 2 didn't make it in the end. But I'm glad that at least my embryos were able to be of consideration to be cultured into blastocysts.

We went to IMM for lunch and at around 12.30 pm, I received a phone call from KKH that my blood test showed a BFP. HCG level was at 247.9. They asked us to go back to collect medicine. I also contacted Dr Zou and let her know that I had spotting since last night. She told me to ask for injection to support and I really did when I went back to KKH but the nurses told me that there was no need to have the injection. KKH only prescribed me with folic acid and oral progesterone to continue for support.

We went to Dr Zou and she advised if my spotting doesn't stop or gets heavier, I must definitely go to the private hospital to ask for injection to support as it is stronger than oral medication. She also said the timing is very important. KKH usually will not give injection to support. She was really very happy when I saw her because she has many patients who got a BFP this week. She prescribed me TCM to drink to 補血和補氣. She also taught me how to cook lotus roots and glutinous rice porridge to help stop the spotting.

I truly want to thank her for her patience all this while. 

I also want to thank my Lord for answering my prayers! Thank you for being so kind to me and have mercy on me for this IVF journey! Thank you for letting me have a safe, smooth and successful journey thus far! Please continue to bless us with a very positive blood test result and higher HCG level on Monday. Also I pray that the scans to come, we are able to see our 2 lovely twin boys growing healthily and strongly inside me! In the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. Amen! 

I want to thank DH for accompanying me to all TCM sessions and medical appointments in the midst of his busy schedule.

I want to thank my 2 strong babies for fighting very strong inside me. Babies darling, I know you have heard mummy said we must fight till the end even though all the odds are against us! That's the spirit of our family! 加油， 寶貝！

給寶寶的日記第十九篇

親愛的寶寶：

你們還好嗎？爸爸和媽媽真的很希望能夠在十個月後看到你們。媽媽希望你們是健健康康的。不過現在你們的首要任務就是要牢牢地黏住媽媽。這樣才能確保媽媽是真的懷孕了。爸爸和媽媽好想帶著你們一起去環遊世界喔！

想不想跟我們一起去環遊世界啊？想的話，你們就要一直跟著媽媽，不要走丟咯！好不好？