Saturday, June 2, 2012

June 2012

1 June 2012 Back in school to get somethings done, but ended up slacking and taking pics of myself... *oops* 

Afterwards I had lunch with a bunch of lady colleagues and we went to Teo Heng at Sembawang Shopping Centre for a crazy sing-song time! Had dinner at a Wan Chai Hong Kong Kitchen before heading home... Had such a blast with my colleagues, really love them to bits!

2 June 2012 Week 27! And I'm going on a local hotel staycation with 3 lady colleagues... we're gonna have lots of fun! :D Poor hubby has been home alone though... while I was away at my folks' place and tonight too... tomorrow I'm going back to my folks' place again because I'm having a workshop at HCI on Monday and Tuesday, and it'll be easier to go there from my parents' place than mine.

6 June 2012 Updating this in school... came back to clear up my messy desk but ended up with a headache and no mood to do anything. Staycation was great though. First time I dipped in pool in my bikini! Because obviously my bump can't fit into my one-piece swimsuit anymore... Workshop at HCI was ok, and after day 2 of my workshop, I went for my first antenatal lesson yesterday evening with hubby. It was very enriching and fun! Mrs Wong, the instructor, also taught the hubbies to massage for the pregnant wives, and to talk to the baby bumps and say, "baby, be good to mummy!" Hee, so cute!

My colleague gave me a pair of sweet light pink baby sandals just now! She bought them from KL when she was there with her family over last weekend. Really nice of her! =) Later meeting 2 NIE girlfriends for lunch at Changi Airport... still feeling blah, hopefully my headache will go away soon!

13 June 2012 Week 28!! Had my gynae appointment last Saturday. Baby's going fine but I need to watch my diet as I've been gaining weight. =P Have gained 6 kg so far... although I seriously hope it won't go up any further! But baby's weight gain will peak in the last month... I can't believe how much more weight I'll have to put on. Urgh~

This week is a week of indulgence! I did a bit of housekeeping at home on Monday and then went back to my folks' place to spend the night. Yesterday my mum bought breakfast (YUM!) and cooked a sumptuous lunch as my close cousin's coming over to eat with us. After lunch I went to Jurong Point with my cousin and we ended up having a sinful dessert at Haagen Dazs!


Went for my second antenatal lesson after hanging out with my cousin in JP... took a train down to AMK Hub to meet hubby and went for the lesson together. The second lesson focused on the techniques for combating labour pains... including breathing techniques for relaxation, and details on other techniques available, such as massage, epidural, laughing gas and hydrotherapy etc. We learnt the different ways of breathing to cope with early contractions as well as intense pain... and hubbies learnt to massage the wifeys to reduce pain... and everyone learnt that the last thing we should do is to bite/slap our husbands... Keke!

Later I'm meeting my cousin again, and another girlfriend, for vegetarian steamboat buffet at Lotus Restaurant in Quality Hotel, and then there's another buffet on Friday, at Carousel after my close colleague's ROM! Oh boy, what a week! Whatever happened to "watch my diet"?! ><

15 June 2012 Had high tea buffet today! And haven't eaten anything since buffet until now (it's close to midnight)... had so much food at Carousel!!

Chatting with a colleague on Facebook and reading up some forums as well... my colleague is a single girl that used to go mambo with, and asked me where I'm delivering. While comparing KK and TMC with her, and reading  the forums, I was overwhelmed by the fact that I'm so blessed, and I'm telling her too. I'm blessed to be able to afford to go to a private hospital, as I read some mothers wrote in forums how they struggle to pay for their subsidized visits at KK, and even had to skip some appointments because they couldn't afford to go for every single one. Then I saw a thread about mothers with acne problem during pregnancy... my mum had terrible acne problem too when she was expecting me, but I'm blessed to be looking radiant and good. I saw mothers complaining about stretchmarks from 6 months onwards, but I'm in my 7th month and I'm stretchmark-free... so far! I really wish it'll stay that way!! *fingers crossed* I saw mothers complaining about confinement ladies, or the lack of people helping during their confinement, but I have my mum to be there for me and to cook my favourite food for me. There are mothers who live with in-laws and quarrel with in-laws every other day and had a hard time living with in-laws for years and years... while I have in-laws that are nice to me and always give in to me. How can I not feel grateful and blessed? Even my baby cots (yes, two of them!) are given by our friends, plus baby clothes, maternity wear and maternity milk, as well as baby car seat from hubby's colleagues and baby carrier from cousins... and even a baby monitor from my SIL! I think I'm truly a very very fortunate person and I am very very thankful.

18 June 2012 Last week of holidays. Had planned to go back to school everyday, but hubby's on leave today for his eye checkup (one year post-lasik) and I decided to go with him and have a day off together. Left home early in the morning feeling hungry but looking forward to a good brunch together in town... however, very unfortunately, we got involved in a traffic accident on the way to town. It was minor but I was so worried sick for my baby I cried all the way to TMC with hubby feeling super sorry... luckily baby's okay... great to see baby's heartbeats going strong on the ultrasound; it's really a relief. Now I'm grateful for every single kick that baby sends my way... it's assuring to know baby is active and sound. Had to miss his eye checkup appointment at 10am, and I was starving. Sent his car to the workshop and then had a quick breakfast of carrot cake at the hawker centre near the workshop before coming home in a cab. Did nothing but napped the whole day away the moment I'm home... Now I've just woken up and feeling hungry. It's already 6:20pm! Just ordered pizzas... now waiting for dinner to arrive.

No more off days after today! Tomorrow will be back to prepare for SEL workshop. Wednesday will be in school for a camp and staying overnight in school... until Thursday, when the camp will continue, plus there will be staff meeting in the morning and I'll be conducting the SEL workshop along with my committee members for the staff in the afternoon.  Friday will be department meeting... then school reopens already. No more rest! *sob* I'll definitely miss napping on and off everyday over the school holidays.

23 June 2012 Yes, I've survived an overnight camp in school, staff meeting, facilitating a workshop to all the staff and then department meeting and finally it's weekend again! Last weekend before school reopens T_T but I should be grateful that at least I had many restful days over the holidays. My maternity leave will officially start in week 9 of term 3... taking 2 weeks before my EDD to prepare myself, and hopefully baby will not pop too soon before I'm ready with preparing myself! Hahaha...

At my parents' place now... had 2 yummy rice dumplings, always my favourite ones since young. My mum's super yummilicious homemade dumplings! When I was a teen I could take 4 for a meal! I can do that now too if I want to, as mum's dumplings aren't big, but that will probably give me indigestion and plenty of weight gain! Haha...

Reading this book "Bringing Up Bebe" and loving it! I don't know why the book made such a big hoo-haa of the "French way" of bringing up a baby... a lot of seems very common sense to me! And as the book compare that with the "American way" of bringing up baby... I realized that's really how most Singaporeans bring up theirs too... ditching "common sense" (of allowing the baby to take "no" as an answer and discovering learning at their own pace), and rather have spoilt brats (giving in to the kid all the time) with no childhood (as many enrichment lessons as one could afford). Are we going the American way?

One very interesting fact that I read was that when parents always give in to every whimper of the kid, the parents are treating the kid like an addict. And soon the kid is addicted. At times when the parents cannot do much but to refuse, the kid gets frustrated and throw tantrums. The parents may be wanting to give all they can to the kid so that the kid is a happy kid, but a kid like this does not have a happy childhood because he gets frustrated easily. When he throws tantrums and he cries, he is frustrated and very unhappy, and that happens pretty often in a spoilt brat's life. A kid like this grows up wanting "instant gratification" but it's not really possible in the real world, so the kid continues to be frustrated easily and also gives up easily, thus hindering success. On the contrary, when parents know how to say "no" or "wait" to a kid, the kid will learn to accept no as an answer or be patient enough to wait. This kid knows how to cope with frustration, is more resilient and patient, and thus more likely to succeed in life. This is what I read in the book, do you agree? Actually I thought that was how I was actually brought up... what happened to the local parenthood scene along the way?

I don't know if I'm exactly looking forward to school reopening on Monday, but I do realize that it's the one milestone that I'd have to cross before delivering my baby girl in the late August, or early September... as I'm due on 2 September. Baby's getting really big now! So I foresee she may wanna pop out earlier for a glimpse of reality. And then it'll be too late to want it back inside the happy darkness. Baby, are you ready? You will have to learn to accept "no" as an answer, and be an independent learner who's keen to discover new things. Mummy will be here for you to guide you along the way, and you'll just have to be a good girl when mummy wants some "me" time. When I have my "me" time, you have yours too. And that's when you'll learn how to play and discover on your own. Just like mummy did when mummy was a kid.

30 June 2012 Last day of June. Went to TMC for my check this morning. Baby is doing well, in fact she's getting on the heavy side already! After that we went to Plaza Singapura to return the Starhub set top box, had lunch at the food court and then watched Madagascar. Baby was kicking when the 'move it move it' song came out at the end of the movie! Hee... Came home and finished "Bring up Bebe". It's a good read. =) Tried to nap but couldn't sleep. Hubby was sleeping soundly though. He's still sleeping now but I'm hungry so I got up to order dinner. This conversation went on just now as I disturbed him from his sleep...

Me: Dear I'm hungry...
Hubby: You go and order dinner...
Me: Pastamania?
Hubby: Okay.
Me: What you want?
Hubby: The usual.
Me: Creamy chicken?
Hubby: Mmmm...
Me: Fusilli?
Hubby: Why you say I silly?
Me: (-___-")

Haha... hope everyone's having a great weekend! I've got work to do... although it's a long weekend for me, I don't think I'll get to go back to my parents' place this weekend. Gotta settle lots of work stuff, work review, set papers etc before I go for my maternity leave some 8 weeks later!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

May 2012

1 May 2012 It's Labour Day, a public holiday! I hope everyone had a good rest today. I sure did rest a lot at my parents' place, before getting my toe nails painted and then buying prata and tau-suan home for dinner before the TV. =)

Woke up to yummy breakfast - vegetarian beehoon... hubby grumbled that he had to sleep alone last night, but well, I simply love being pampered by my parents! =)


And now my toe nails are a hot pink colour! *love* All ready to party the night away on this Saturday night with my colleagues after a colleague's wedding dinner. Why is it only Wednesday tomorrow? Oh my, I can't wait till the weekend for a night of dancing and mock-booze! (Yes lah I very disciplined one, not a single sip of alcohol please! ^^)

7 May 2012 It's the Vesak Day off day today... on Vesak Day itself, was at a colleague's wedding dinner, then went to party at New Asia Bar with fellow colleagues. Unfortunately it was not as fun as the last session. We had a table on the upper level where we could only order expensive drinks by the bottle, plus no mocktails in the menu, and I didn't bother asking, so I had NOTHING. Went off around 2am, and hoping to go somewhere else more fun the next time!

Just had yummy lunch of flavourful curry potatoes, healthy green veggies and wholesome brown rice at my parents' place, but leaving soon... gotta go ask some childcare centre to inquire on their waiting list. It's really absurd that some friends have to take unpaid leave simply because the waiting list of the childcare centres around the area are all 2 years or over! Whoever says we don't make enough babies ought to be shot, there aren't even enough childcare centres to go around for all the babies made!! When I was doing my nails, mentioned in the previous entry (above), one mama was agonizing over the fact that her daughter couldn't get a spot in the kindergarten! Seriously, how absurd is that?!?!?!

Alrighty time to go off... we are already shortlisting the childcare centres around our areas, but of course the top priority goes to the one downstairs, in our same block... oh well, in this time and space, seriously convenience rules. It'll be such a pain if we have to take the freaking crowded peak-hour LRT etc just to fetch the kid. I'll be back!

9 May 2012 It was raining and I took a cab home. A grandmother fetched her two grandchildren from the childcare centre below my block and they took the same lift as me. The siblings were telling their ah-ma that they made something for their mother for mother's day, but don't tell their mum. Then they started singing Jay's 《听妈妈的话》 in unison. Haha, very cute!

Been feeling the baby's movements more and more. Will be going for my next check on coming Saturday, before a shopping trip with my mum... it's my mother's day treat for her! Feeling really big now, I wonder how much weight I've gained so far... can't wait for Saturday to come!

17 May 2012 Finally the marking frenzy is over! Time for another task, 5 lesson plans to do for lower sec sexuality education! Jiayou to myself!!


23 May 2012 I've been through many many stuff at work and etc but didn't even have the time to come and update on my blog! Sigh.

It's a hectic week. For my lower sec class, we are doing CIP, collecting recycleables from the neighbourhood estates around school. On Monday, I walked down every single storey with them from the top level in a block, to give out flyers to the residents, informing them about the collection today. I let them do the subsequent blocks independently. Today, another hectic day, walking out in the rain and coming back in the sun... and giving instructions to a bunch of hyper lower sec students while ensuring nothing goes wrong and making sure all the newspapers etc were tied up properly and placed neatly while waiting for the lorry to come and pick them up.

Tomorrow night will be sec 3 parent-teacher dialog. And Saturday will be for my sec 2. I really hope tomorrow I don't have to speak to many parents... as I'm a subject teacher for sec 3. For my own sec 2 form class, already confirmed 3 parents meeting me on Friday, and another 27 students' parents/guardians coming for the parent-teacher dialog on Saturday... from the amount of complaints just via telephone alone I'm already overwhelmed, I'm not sure if I can stay standing without crumbling after handling 30 sets of parents/guardians... OMG.

Back to what this blog is about... my bump is getting big. People are asking me if I've eaten a lot. No I haven't been eating a lot, and I haven't gained much weight actually. My cravings are juvenile... from soya bean milk, roti prata, mashed potatoes to apple juice, maggi goreng, ice milo. No particular brand, easy to satisfied... told hubby that he's having an easy life to have such a simple pregnant wife like me.

27 May 2012 Went to Ikea and Giant at Tampines for a little window shopping, and had a late lunch at Ikea's restaurant too. The house is already packed with stuff... a folded baby cot from a friend, bags of baby clothes from friends, and bags of my own clothes too, those that I can't fit in now and need to be put aside as there's seriously not enough room for all my pre-pregnancy clothes and maternity clothes in the wardrobe. We were thinking to get storage for baby stuff as we browsed around Ikea... but seriously the house is already so packed, where to find room to fit a baby?! OMG. I wish we can afford to upgrade and get a 4-bedroom apartment...

30 May 2012 School holidays! Spent Monday doing invigilation, and Tuesday to do file checking for my level (tough being a level manager, urgh!) with fellow level managers and my committee head. Now I'm back at my parents' place to be pampered by good wholesome food that my mum always cooks... mummy showed me this news article... I was like, "Nutritious vegetarian confinement food for dragon year mummies? This article is written for ME!!" XD


Before I headed back to my folks' place on Tuesday, I went to collect a parcel from the post office... it's a pack of 5 baby rompers that I ordered from Gmarket. And something happened at the post office! A lady from China was in front of me in the queue, and she has many many packages to be sent out. As the post office is closing, another staff quickly attended to me at the same counter. When I collected my package, the lady looked at my package and I looked at her packages... They are the same!! She is the Gmarket seller that I ordered the rompers from, what coincidence!!! She actually stays near me and offered that I can go to her place to choose from her available designs and save on postage... Hahaha what's the chance of something like this happening randomly in a post office?! XD Such SUCH coincidence!!

31 May 2012 Went to Motherhood Expo TWICE on this day!! Once in the morning with my cousin... and bought a package of 10 Bum Wear cloth diapers with 25 NV inserts, along with some freebies. Also bought 2 nursing bras and 2 nursing tanktops from Autumnz booth.All those cost me over 400 bucks already!

Lunch was good with my cousin at The Soup Spoon, Changi City Point. =)


After lunch we came to my place to play Dance Central on my Kinect... yes I've been dancing dancing away through my pregnancy... hohoho~ Hubby came back and we went to Ubi to look at some of the baby stuff warehouses for strollers, then back to Expo again to compare prices. In the end we didn't get strollers, but bought bedding set, bean sprout husk pillow, bibs and a zipper swaddle.

Oh I've forgotten to mention... my PILs went to Bangkok with my BIL and his girlfriend, and they came back with a luggageful of baby stuff! They bought traditional square cloth nappies (which the baby needs when she's a newborn, as babies can only start wearing cloth diapers when they are "plump" enough to prevent leakage =P), nice baby clothes, rompers (2 from Juicy Couture!) and cute booties. Those, along with the many bags and boxes of stuff from hubby's colleagues/friends and some from SIL, my baby officially has more clothes to wear than me! Hahaha~

Sunday, April 1, 2012

April 2012

1 April 2012 It's been a tiring week... been sleeping really late each day... 1am or 2am... today hubby's meeting his financial advisor at Tampines Mall in the morning and we went early to have breakfast. We had no special craving and ended up at Mac. I was so hungry I felt like puking... but after eating I really puked. It's really hard for me... I puke when I'm hungry and I puke when I'm full... and I dunno why I'm like that and it's affecting my mood. Hubby gotten me and himself a new iPhone 4S each. I'm happy with my belated birthday gift but I guess my hormones is getting to me and I just broke down and cried while on the escalator. I was hungry again after puking but really dun feel like eating anything as it seems anything makes me puke. I was super tired. I came home and tried to nap, but I couldn't sleep at all. My eczema is making me itch like mad in the afternoon heat. In the end hubby was the one sleeping, and I went downstairs to get some softmeal bread and Meiji fresh milk... need to stock up as I get hungry ALL THE TIME these days... =/


Those negative whinings aside, I'm 18 weeks pregnant today. Yesterday went to my parents' place and then to a friend's place to pick up some maternity clothes and books on pregnancy. A colleague also packed a huge bag of her maternity clothes for me... and I guess I have almost enough to last through my pregnancy. I've bought a few online because it's really not cheap to get off the rack in maternity shops around the malls. With all these preloved maternity wear from my lovely friend and colleague, I'm gonna save a lot. =) Yesterday hubby also bought me a purple Esprit watch because my own watch with fixed strap length is getting tight around my wrist. City Chain is having $20 off purchases over $120 (if I remember correctly) and he bought a limited edition Seiko (additional 15% off) for himself!


3 April 2012 Big whine:
hungry: badly want to puke
want to eat: don't feel like eating
after eaten: badly want to puke
ate fruits: badly want to puke
ate biscuits: badly want to puke
ate rice: badly want to puke
is there anything that i can eat without feeling like puking?! i tot second trimester is gonna be better? why is mine WORSE?!

It's a long day. Chaired a meeting from 2:30pm to 4pm, then rushed for another meeting from 4pm to 6pm... super tired.

6 April 2012 TGIGF!! Thank goodness, it's Good Friday!! It's been a long week... despite it's only 4 working days. I've been vomiting much on 4 April... luckily I feel better now. It seems that I will feel like vomiting at a certain timing every night. It just depends on whether I can tide over that pukish period without puking... but it's not everyday that I can tolerate through it.

Hubby went to Batam this morning with his colleagues and will only be back on Sunday. I'll be meeting some gal friends to collect my 350 Run race pack (which of course I won't be running now) and catch up over dinner, then go back to spend my weekend marking away at my parents' place. 12 stacks of graded assignments and 2 stacks of class tests, it's no joke! >< I also have a physics paper to set, so gotta be back early on Sunday to set my paper! Really don't feel like lugging my heavy work lappy, along with all the markings, all the way out for dinner and back to my folks' place, and finally back again.

Just now I was asking MIL what she wanted to eat for lunch... I was hungry and was wondering if she wanted to go down to the kopitiam downstairs to eat, otherwise I'd just go downstairs and tabao... then she said, downstairs or nearby all the food not nice, she'd go Boon Keng to tabao lunch for me... (o_O)!! She took train all the way to Boon Keng just to tabao food for me?! I feel like a spoilt brat, but I know it's really because she has a fussy palate! Haha... =P Now as I type, she's probably on the way home with my lunch. She called me 10 minutes ago, asking me to keep the clothes because it's pouring in Boon Keng, and I quickly kept everything as the sky was turning really dark. And as soon as I was done, it started raining! Phew~

8 April 2012 Spent last 2 nights at my parents' place while hubby's away for short vacation in Batam with his colleagues over the long weekend. Just now tabao laksa back for lunch, from a vegetarian stall near my parents' place that sells stuff that I love since I was much younger. Good choice to have the gravy separated. When I was back I vomited and took quite a while before I decided to eat my lunch. Heat up the gravy and dropped the rest of the stuff in for my hot yummy lunch. I finished a 830-ml bottle of Meiji low fat milk in one afternoon! Won't get milk overdose one, right? I'm still craving for Meiji milk! Can't wait for hubby to be back, and make him accompany me to buy more milk =P And now I need to set my pure physics mid year exam paper. I'm 19 weeks pregnant today!

10 April 2012 I threw up twice in school today :( and I also read up on stuff because I was having peanut butter sandwiches and some friends told me that I should avoid all nuts and by-products. Here are two links to share...
It's a myth.. yes? http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500202_162-5276102.html
Some of the comments here scare me... http://www.babycenter.com/400_is-it-safe-to-eat-peanut-butter-during-pregnancy_910427_63.bc Because there are a handful that claimed in the comments that the couple are both not allergic to nuts but after having all the nuts during pregnancy, the child developed nut allergy! Although also many who have eaten truckloads of peanuts and have perfectly fine kids. So is it really best to avoid?

Hubby won't be home today... on duty in camp. Home alone with FIL as MIL's at SIL's place. A bit sian, but nevermind, I'm gonna be kept busy with my 9 stacks of marking anyway. Well well, time to start marking!

11 April 2012 Today's to-do list

Vet sec 4 phy MYE paper
Redo some questions in sec 2 science, sec 3 physics and 3 sci(phy) MYE papers
Mark graded assignments - 6 stacks
Mark class tests - 3 stacks
Mark standardized tests - 6 stacks
Do lesson plan for lesson ob on coming Friday
Print past year papers for 3 sci(phy) classes
Order food for donation to the old folks home that RCY is visiting next week

Guess my marking have to push to later dates... MYE papers more important! So busy that I haven't been doing lesson plans for weeks. *oops* Bad teacher!

Later - I facebooked this at close to 7pm: "felt like puking in sch but held it back... need to at least finish editing one paper first so i can settle the other two at home... then when about to go home... felt ok, then on the way, felt worse... the most annoying part is the journey on feet... from the bus stop to home is already a long walk and after the overhead bridge i gotta stop every few steps to breathe... slow... in... out... because puking along the pavement is just so unglam! finally home and rushed to puke... omg when will this be over?!"

12 April 2012 My "baby diary" is gonna become my "vomit diary". Urgh!

Today I puked right after lunch. Ate in canteen, and puked in the staff toilet in canteen before going back to the staffroom, 3 storeys up. Felt a burning sensation in my tummy, but didn't have appetite. Ended up drinking a mug of the instant Cadbury hot chocolate from the staff pantry. My gastric juice is like super acting up! Came home and couldn't eat much too... had soup, threw the rice away. =/ Gonna ask the doc when I go for my scan tomorrow... why is this happening to me? Maybe my baby wants to help me fulfill a long time dream - to lose weight! Hahaha~ Good thing I bought some buns to snack on if I were to feel hunger pangs later. Now, time to get back to work!

14 April 2012 Yesterday was not a good day at work. I cried in staffroom after a colleague came to tell me to sleep more out of concern, which is very sweet of her, because my face literally looks like s**t, according to her, and that a lot of colleagues are actually very concerned and talking about it. I told her I couldn't afford to sleep earlier, I had to get my work done! So many deadlines to meet... Then I had to rush my papers. Supposed to pass to my HOD who's on reservist in coming 2 weeks, so need to get everything submitted by yesterday. But I had my gynae plus detailed scan appointment at 2:45pm. My hubby was already in school waiting for me by his car at 1:45pm but I was still working on my paper. By 2pm I realized I couldn't get it done on time and passed my papers to my HOD, some unedited, and his paper unvetted by me. I've let the second vetter vet it though. My HOD was very unhappy and told me off. He told me he has given me so much time and I still couldn't get things done. I told him my husband is waiting for me to go for the appointment, and he said I should make appointment outside of office hours in such peak periods. I felt really depressed and held it back until the moment I got into the car, I started crying like mad. Hubby was so worried and asked me what happened, but I just told him quickly drive off... because we're still in school and there were students walking around!

Went for the appointment. Baby, as usual, dancing away while doing the scan. I haven't felt any of her kicks though, as there's still ample room for her to move around. The detailed scan shows that everything's fine. She's a princess with what seems like pretty long legs. The report also shows that her femur length is well over average, while still within healthy range. I am blessed with a strong little girl and I am truly grateful. Hubby told me that his colleague's wife (whom we hang out with) was pregnant when he just came back from his overseas work trip. The wife called his colleague who was overseas with my hubby, and the colleague was so happy he told everyone there and then after he was informed of the good news. But yesterday hubby told me she had a miscarriage earlier in her first trimester because the baby was not strong enough to hold onto her uterus. My baby went through my mambo nights and just dance frenzy... when I was still clueless about my pregnancy. I'm very very blessed indeed, and I really am counting my blessings.


Doc also says my frequent vomiting likely due to the fact that my baby's "spacious room" inside me have my digestive system all squashed up, so I gotta eat tiny little meals every now and then. Otherwise the food will go through a "traffic jam" and those that didn't get to go down, will just come up instead.

18 April 2012 Just now was at the coffeeshop to pick up a dish that MIL ordered... my PILs often hang out there and every uncle and auntie there know them super darn well. One staff auntie looked at me and signaled to FIL (who spends every evening to night drinking at the coffeeshop but that's besides the point since my aim here is not to whine about him) if i'm pregnant. Then she asked me if it's boy. I said no it's girl, to which she promptly replied, "再努力!"

Why girl then must 再努力? Yes I wanted a boy at first, simply because I wanted to save money because I know I will definitely splurge on my girl, not because of 传宗接代 issues... Just don't like it when people think that: "Oh it's girl, not enough effort this time. Nevermind, put in more effort next time and get a boy." Oh boy oh boy >< that makes me pissed. I know my mum has been through the same when she was pregnant with me. It just doesn't make sense to hear such things now. Should I just retort, "Blame his son's sperms?" Seriously. *rolls eyes*

19 April 2012 Today is our wedding anniversary. I brought 5 stacks of markings and 2 papers for editing home, and we went to buy dinner at KFC drive-thru for our anniversary dinner.

I'm tired, but also looking forward to the real anniversary getaway this weekend.

25 April 2012 I spent the weekend in MBS. It was incredible. Then two nights ago I think I started to feel my baby inside me for the first time. But I can only feel it when I lie on my side... then the baby sort of drop down into a corner due to gravity... and that's where I can feel movement. Tummy's been growing really fast since the weekend. Although appetite is non-existence, while work is overwhelming. Gotta mark, I shall stop here.

26 April 2012 Yesterday after my entry I went back to marking, then hubby came home with the food I was craving for... roti prata! He was out on a work dinner function while I came back for dinner... which wasn't very appetizing unfortunately and I had super little rice... no appetite in the first place, and those yucky food seriously has no place in me! Texted hubby to buy some bread on the way home... as I didn't feel like eating rice, and felt more like eating bread or prata. He went to Jalan Kayu on his way home and bought 2 kosong prata for me! I was thrilled~ craving satisfied!! Yay~ And the most amazing thing is, after that, I started feeling baby inside my bump! So exciting~ :D

Tomorrow is my school's anniversary and awards day... it'll be a long long day. Alright, time to write the write those remarks for my students' mid-year progress report.

29 April 2012 Friday night we went to Brewbaker after school anniversary, as usual. Coincidentally there was a Kirin event at Brewbaker and it was opened to public. The night was filled with free flow Kirin beer that I can't drink! =/


There wasn't much crowded and we started dedicating songs. In no time we started asking for all the mambo numbers, and turned an ordinary event at Brewbaker into mambo night! And we danced the night away~ I don't need alcohol to dance, all I need is good music and awesome company! Now I just can't wait for my next clubbing session on the coming Saturday with my fellow colleagues!!

Last night I as I layed in bed trying to feel baby's movement, I started to wonder about a lot of stuff and posted this in Facebook: Sometimes when the baby kicks, i wonder what makes her kick. How does she feel? Is she happy and dancing? Or is she unhappy and throwing a tantrum? Sometimes when I press on the tummy trying to get a reaction, I wonder how does the baby feel. I'm amazed that this little being is living inside me but with her own individual sensing, feeling and character, totally independent of me, her current "bedroom". She can feel my emotions, but I have to guess hers. Isn't it amazing? I just can't stop thinking about how amazing this is!

Last night was at my folks' place. As usual, being pampered by my mum with wholesome healthy food. Today I met my primary school buddies for lunch. A friend, wife of a primary school classmate, gave me some maternity wear, Nan maternity milk powder and even Avent maternity shower gel! Hubby also picked up a baby cot from his friend's place before joining us. Then on our way home, we picked up some more items... baby girl clothings and toddler girl dresses... really grateful for the freebie preloved items!


I realized the pics are really small here, but just look at the huge stacks of baby girl clothings and girly dresses that came out of the 2 super-packed plastic bags! Unbelieveable~

A lot of expecting mummies in the forum I frequent actually started shopping like mad from the day they learnt about their babies' gender... I'm still procrastinating! I want to save money for better use in future and babies outgrow their clothes so quickly, so I'm really hoping to collect as many preloved items as possible and not spend a single cent... hahaha, call me a stingy mama!

Added later: Stingy mum is back! It's midnight and I actually just placed an order on Gmarket for 8 baby rompers (plain sleeveless ones in size for 3-month) and 24 pieces (3 packs of 8) of baby face towels... inclusive of postage, total damage is just below 40 bucks. ^^v Not including my prenatal or maternity stuff, plus that diaper bag organizer from Gmarket, this is my first expenditure on my baby!

Friday, March 2, 2012

March 2012

2 March 2012 I'm very sick today. I've totally lost my voice, I can't even manage a croak. Went ahead to school because I'm rushing syllabus for the kids. Used the physics lab because labs have mics. Felt terrible after 3.5 hours of lessons, so went home very soon after lessons... but still not soon enough to catch the doctor. The clinic downstairs closes at 2pm on Fridays, and I reached home at 2:05pm unfortunately. I didn't feel well enough to go anywhere else, so I rested. MIL made lemon honey for me, which was really sweet and nice of her. Was planning to go out with colleagues for dinner, but in the end I napped until 7+ and luckily the dinner was cancelled because of little positive responses. MIL cooked porridge for me and I've just had porridge. Feeling slightly better in energy, but my throat still hurts super badly and I can't talk at all. Sometimes I feel a little crampy in the ab and that got me worried. But I thought I've read that crampy feeling is due to the uterus expanding, so I hope everything is okay. Going for a baby seminar tomorrow afternoon. I really hope I feel better tomorrow. If I wake up feeling really sore, I may have to go see the doc in the morning before the seminar.

The sore throat is not the only thing that's hurting me now. My eczema is getting really bad too. My neck, underarms, inner elbows and chest are infested with scaly red skin and blistering wounds from my scratches. I know I know... I know damn well I shouldn't scratch but it was just toooooo intolerable!! The heat is totally killing me. My underarms, being the place that perspire super a lot, has been in pain due to open wounds drowned in perspiration. My neck is in a horrible state too. :(


3 March 2012 Went to see doc in the morning. Gotten med for my voice box infection, cough and flaring eczema... cost over 90 bucks. =/ The nice lady doc says I'm not allowed to talk for the next few days and gave me MC for Monday and Tuesday. Was worried for baby because I've been coughing rather vigorously day and night, but doc says since I'm into my 13th week, baby should be quite stable so not to worry. I've signed up for a baby parenting seminar that's happening today and I've been looking forward to it, but I'm not going now... need a lot of rest so better to stay at home. I know this is rather last minute, but anyone interested to go in my place?

1pm: Hubby's nephews came. His sister very good... youngest son with my MIL, who doesn't have a choice but to bring him along for her hairwash in Chinatown (yes yes, she's a pampered lady who only has her hair wash-and-blow in Chinatown on every weekend) then just sent the 2 elder boys over to my place as hubby and I are not going for the seminar anymore... I was watching TV, the only cable TV at home. The moment they arrived, without asking they switched the TV to the Kinect and started playing the gruesome and bloody game Assassin Creed. =( I hate watching them play that game as it's really bloody... like if you cut a person with the sword, blood will splatter out all over until he fell over on the floor. When I accidentally saw it on the TV screen I squirmed, but the boys will laugh. URGH. I guess SIL must be happily shopping alone right now... as her hubby's overseas at the moment. But again, probably she's appreciating the me-time. Maybe next time I'd love to have someone else babysit for me and have my own me-time too as I'm someone who really treasure my private moments.

Next week onwards I'll be home alone for over 3 weeks... plenty of me-time. Hubby will be overseas for work from 5th to 28th March, and PILs will be going over to SIL's place to help her with her chores and her 3 sons as her hubby's also overseas for work. Unfortunately my term break is packed, otherwise I would really love to be staying at my folks' place back in the west. Any dinner kaki who can join me in the northeast region of Singapore on school days? Text me or leave a message here! =)

5 March 2012 On 2-day MC. Decided to utilize the MC that the doc gave me as I have not recovered and I still have no voice to talk. I know I really need to rest my poor neglected body, and not just ignore the MCs like in the past. I just hate to miss lessons. Frankly I'm not gonna miss the students, but the syllabus is so tight that once I miss a lesson it's almost guaranteed that I'll need to have make up lessons, or rush like crazy and risk the students not understanding a single thing I've taught. I hate that.

Hubby left early this morning at 4+ and I woke up when he kissed me goodbye before he left. After he left I cried. I miss him already! I know I've been looking forward to my me-time but reality hits me late and hard... I'll be on my own for the rest of the month... no one to sayang me when I'm in pain or had a bad day, and no one to fetch me for work or dinners or gynae appointments. Furthermore my term break is totally packed and I will have no time to rest. My only rest day is Friday, and I have a gynae appointment at 9:40am. This will be a super sucky March. =(

6 March 2012 Going to a gynae nearby for ultrascan... just to check that baby is okay after my vigorous coughing all day and all night. It's gonna cost at least $190... money spent just to have a peace of mind. Sigh. It's tough to be pregnant! I hope I won't fall sick again. My throat is still sore and my voice has not recovered. Please please please, let me get well soon!

After seeing gynae: The doctor says that pregnant women will take longer to recover and whenever I try to talk, the swollen sores on my throat will rub against one another and worsen, so I'm not allowed to talk. I've heard that, yes. And she gave me 3 more days of MC?! When I tried to explain to her about my school's level-wide programme (no lessons for the last 3 days of term 1) and I'm not going to teach, she just told me that I should stop talking, and should sleep all the time for my throat to recover. (o_O)!! And she told me to help myself recover, I should not drink anything cold (I've been taking cold HL milk and there's still some in my fridge, think I'd have to microwave before I drink or mix with hot Horlicks, just bought instant Horlicks on the way back) and also should not wear shorts... (-_-") I wore shorts to the clinic, yes. She also gave me more lozenges, more cough syrup, and vitamin C pills. On a positive note, the baby is doing fine and dancing away in the ultrascan. It's now 10.8 cm. =) Time to snooze and be a good girl. ^^

Later: Home alone and cooked my own dinner - a small serving of porridge with diced potato (more potato than rice! ><) and chopped ginger, and heat up some frozen mock siew mai.


7 March 2012 Today was back in school. HOD spoken to me about MCs and stuff, told me not to slip even when I'm pregnant as it may affect me and I may risk getting into a D area, although he assured me I'm nowhere near now. HOD told me he's speaking to me because my RO's very concerned. My RO is a very nice lady and she really cares a lot for her subordinates so I can totally imagine her freaking out when I take MC in the past 2 days, and ask my HOD what to do about it. Because yes, in my school, MC may affect where you stand in ranking. RO's out to KL, the trip which I was supposed to go but was pulled out when the HOD in charge of the trip get to know that I'm pregnant. Good thing now that I'm not going, I'm still sick and they are already in KL now! Did went to school early to send the students and teachers off though... their buses left school at 6:30am this morning. Managed to cope through the day without raising my voice as I was just sitting in at workshops conducted by external vendors... however the facilitators in the class I'm attached to were not able to keep the hyper NT class engaged and they were really restless and noisy towards the end of the day.

After school left soon after 2pm, one of the earliest I've left school. Went to nearby foodcourt for lunch with 3 colleagues, one is pregnant and due next month. She was telling me about how wonderful the Dreamgenii pillow is as it helped her sleep soundly. So now I'm glad I've ordered it on Gmarket after reading about the raves... spent $105 for the pillow and $28 for the pillow cover. She bought the pillow without the cover at $159 off the shelf. Some forumers bought it at $130 off the shelf after discount. Waiting for it to arrive. =)

Went home to nap after lunch and took quite long to fall asleep. I believe it's already 5pm when I eventually slept, and I woke up at 8. I had the rudest shock of my life when I woke up... I thought it's 8am and I'm late for work! Almost gave me a heart attack... seriously?! Yes it's only 8pm... right, time to make myself some dinner... it's really getting late now!

Later: Made vegetaran fish soup today... taste more like tomato soup though, overwhelmed with lettuce and tomato!


8 March 2012 Happy International Women's Day! Took this photo this morning...


Yellow one is for my throat inflammation, orange one is Vitamin C given by the gynae 2 days ago, black one is flaxseed oil to replace fish oil, white one is folic acid, and red one is prenatal supplement. Have finished all those antibiotics, anti-cough, anti-pain, anti-itch, anti-congestion pills etc... but I'm still not well! *sob* In addition to these, I have calcium pills (was instructed not to take together with the red pills thus not in pic), lozenges and cough syrup.

9 March 2012 Going into another bout of depressionist period. On the LRT platform at Punggol while on the way home, was coughing so badly that I was literally seeing stars. I had to force myself to stop coughing so that I will not vomit, and I can actually see properly... but hard to hold, keep coughing on and off nonstop... been coughing all day and all night. Was imagining if I was standing near the edge and cough until see stars and fell off into the track, tomorrow's headlines maybe "pregnant teacher blah blah blah"... but then again I think too highly of myself. Definitely I'm not the kind of material to appear in the headlines. Anyway... I was thinking so morbid that I updated my Facebook: "Fall sick + expecting = deadly combo... After 3 weeks, 3 docs n at least 12 different kinds of meds, i'm still coughing madly till seeing stars. on the verge of throwing myself out of the window..." If not, onto the tracks. Hope this new bout of emo-ness goes away soon. I'm too busy for this! Tomorrow I'm bringing students out for competition, Monday and Tuesday going for workshop at my CCA's HQ. Wednesday and Thursday will be spent in school, with Wednesday night possibly spent in school. And finally, Friday will be my next gynae appointment. By the end of term break and all those buzz, I will also be expected to have set 4 papers - sec 2, sec 3 combined science, sec 3 pure science (all 3 MYE papers) and a standardized test. What a term break. I seriously wish I have a real break.

March ought to be happy, but so far it's been a really whiny month for me.

11 March 2012 Yesterday was a bad day... just the earlier part of it though. I was whining so much about it. I left home and realized that I have totally forgotten to put anything on my face. No sunblock or moisturizer, and so my naked face is exposed to all elements of the weather, and it's a freaking hot day! On bus, I coughed so much that other passengers didn't dare to sit next to me, staring at me like I'm gonna give them TB or something. And I coughed so hard that I kinda peed a little... I could feel the warm dampness between my legs... disgusting! And I was on my way to school, to bring the students out for competition. Being the only teacher around, I won't be able to run away to get disposable underwear or something. So just bearing with it in my babydoll dress... luckily not stinky. Urgh! Coughed like mad on the bus to the competition ground, until I teared. I guess when on buses, the aircon makes my throat ticklish so I couldn't help it but coughed nonstop throughout the journey. =(

Finally the competition was over, the students were good, and we were back in school, dropped out things back into the CCA room, and locked up the school once more. I took the cab back to my parents' place... and once again, yes... coughing like crazy! Once I'm back... I'm a happy girl! My mum made super yummy lotus root soup. She hasn't made the soup for ages and I super miss it! I was just missing it in the past few weeks so it came as a pleasant surprise. That really made my day! I have the most fantabulous mum~ *LOVE*

This morning woke up coughing... was only 6am in the morning... at 7+ I overheard on the radio (958, which my parents tune into as long as they're at home and not watching TV) this DJ talking about kids and supplements. My mum loves the station for being very informative and she's learned a lot from the radio station. This morning the DJ was talking about how supplements like calcium and royal jelly can adversely affect the growth of a child and many parents, being too ganjiong, feed their kids with too much such "good stuff" but in the end is sabotaging their kid's growth and health. Keywords are still "eat a balanced diet"...

Mum asked me how I want to celebrate my birthday (tomorrow), and where do I want to go for a family meal together. I thought I'd love something really simple this time, and told her to just cook mee sua for me. In the end she put together this for lunch. *LOVE*


Mee sua with my favourite lettuce (which have turned yellow due to soaking in the hot soup) and 2 hardboiled eggs! I asked if anyone wanted to share my 2 hardboiled eggs, but my mum said it's okay, I'm pregnant plus it's for my birthday, so I can take 2 eggs. Apparently some of her friends used to take 10 hardboiled eggs a day when they were pregnant! It was their form of 'supplement' in the past, and both mothers and children are doing well and healthy even now, so my mum says there should be no problem. Hee.

13 March 2012 Yesterday was my birthday. It is now 7am in the morning. I logged in wanting to update about yesterday but there's also some work to be done before I rush out for my workshop and ended up... no time. I'll be back, some day soon!

18 March 2012 It's been a crazy busy week. Holiday? Where's my holiday? =( My birthday came and pass in a blink of an eye. Here's just a summary of the week.

Monday: My birthday. Workshop from 0830-1730, then met some friends for dinner at Medzs, Orchard Central.


Tuesday: Workshop from 0830-1730, then back to school for dinner, campfire and supper.

Wednesday: CCA camp, out with cadets or in school the entire day but didn't stay overnight. Dinner alone at Koufu near school.

Thursday: CCA camp, out with cadets the entire day. Was out with cadets and our guest delegates from Japan for a cultural and city tour in the day. One of the stops was at Little India where many of them get henna art on the back of their hands... there are many sample pictures being displayed and I saw one... wonder if any one will do this on your baby bump?


Met 3 close colleagues for dinner at Suntec Food Fair... our version of ladies' night! =P 4 ladies and 3 girls (a colleague's daughters as she couldn't find help to look after them) dining out together. But seriously don't go. Totally not worth going. I had chwee kwey, portuguese egg tart, yam cake, sweet potato fries. Nothing unique or fascinating there.


Friday: Gynae check early in the morning. Gynae said my baby's doing well, 70% princess, and super hyperactive that he has difficulty scanning because she's constantly moving around! Cousin accompanied me and then we had lunch at Cedele, browsed around at Taka Baby Fair and cab down to her place to chill a bit. For lunch, we shared a large pumpkin soup, an ariabatta pasta and vegetarian patties made from beetroot and legumes. Every dish was great!


 At my cousin's place, I was so tired I fell asleep while she played various games in her Wii. I was carrying this super heavy haversack filled with TYS, laptop, supplements, more supplements from doc after gynae check, other medications and stuff. The bag easily weighed more than any toddler, closely rivalling the haversack I carried when I went backpacking last December. And it's giving me very sore shoulders and upper back. =/ I wonder what will happen in future when I have to carry baby and other stuff.

Went back to my parents' place. My mum remembered me mentioning my craving for fish soup and she made yummy vegetarian fish soup specially for me! I definitely feel loved and pampered everytime I'm back at my parents' place. Love my family to bits!

Saturday: Had breakfast with my brother and his girlfriend... I had vegetarian wanton meepok from my childhood all the time favourite vegetarian noodle stall near my parents' place, while my baby bro had laksa.


At home and supposed to be setting paper. Not in the mood. OMG I'm so screwed! Gotta set MYE papers for sec 2 Exp/NA physics, sec 3 Exp combined science - physics, and sec 3 Exp pure science physics Paper 2, plus a sec 2 Exp/NA standardized test paper. Sad. Dinner was at a coffeeshop near my baby bro's new place. He has explored the place and found this really good vegetarian tze-char stall. He offered a treat to the whole family, and also treating it as a belated birthday treat for me. The food was super good! I wanna go back there to eat often!
 

Sunday: Today. Morning went to sao-mu. Had this dull achy cramp in my abs when we alighted from taxi, it was so bad I could hardly walk... felt just like one of those horrible menstrual cramps that I had. Is this normal? After sao-mu, went home and everytime I sat down will have mild cramp, and once stood up from sitting position will hurt more. I hate this, I haven't really started setting my papers! =( I just napped for a while hoping that the cramp will go away, now it's around 2:30pm and feeling slightly better... better start working on my papers now.

19 March 2012 Home alone, burdened with tonnes of work and falling sick (cough has not gone and here comes the flu, nose dripping all day and sneezing all the time) is bad enough. Received news 30 minutes ago that my grandmother has passed away, and been crying ever since. I know it's a relief for her, but I can't help it. Maybe it's being alone and being sick and overbearing workload and this piece of news coming together all at once, making me crumble... I cry, I stop, then I cry again... Will be going to school with swollen eyes tomorrow morning. And tomorrow afternoon I'm conducting a teacher-led workshop at AST. Wednesday afternoon is beach cleaning with my cadets. Everyday is packed and with 4 papers to set... Suddenly feel like I can't handle all these anymore.

23 March 2012 Today is the funeral and cremation of my beloved grandmother. I've lost count of how many times I've cried today. After everything, I went home to nap, then I woke up and I cried again. Now I'm really looking forward to seeing my hubby tomorrow... after 3 long weeks, handling all the ups and downs alone. My cough shows no sign of leaving me, the phelgm's getting thick and green again, my nose is still dripping... and my voice is super hoarse right now. With assignments to mark, papers to set, sickness to deal with and a lost to cope while on my own, my pregnancy is the last thing on my mind right now.

25 March 2012 Hubby was back yesterday. We went out for dinner with his parents and spent a bomb at Imperial Treasure at Tampines One, thereafter we spent another bomb at Uniqlo where I bought some really nice and comfy undies... bought 2 the other time and fell in love, really stretchy and comfortable even for my expanding tummy, thus went to buy more. Hubby's in love with Uniqlo boxers too, and we spent close to a hundred at Uniqlo.

Still coughing madly and MIL has been making this 止咳汤 (anti-cough soup?) with ingredients from medical hall... just chanced upon this website from a motherhood forum... http://www.howtostopacough.org hope it can help!

28 March 2012 It's a mad day. I'm constantly hungry... OMG! I had beehoon AND glutinous rice for breakfast, honey (from a sweet colleague) and muffin (from another sweet colleague) during recess time after 2 hours of teaching, mee rebus and milo at 11am after another 1 hour of teaching, 白木耳糖水 and a mini cupcake at 2pm after 1 last hour of teaching and 1 more hour of assembly, some biscuits near 4pm and still feeling starved after the biscuits... fortunately a sweet colleague (Yet another one! I have lots of sweet colleagues!) messaged me that she's running errand outside school and in the end she kindly gotten kaya waffles from Prima Deli for me and another colleague. I just ate it, it's 4:45pm now and I'm still hungry!!! I messaged my hubby and he said baby is a hungry hippo... ><

 

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

February 2012

1 Feb 2012 I've been eating a lot. It's very scary! Today I had beehoon and hot chocolate for breakfast, then another hot chocolate at recess time. Had a light lunch at 11am, the serving of noodles was very little, in the end bought a 'lian rong bao' to fill up. After my lessons at 2pm, I bought another bun, a 'dou sha bao' this time. Then later I had HL milk. Then I ate lots of bourbon biscuits and gingersnaps, which I bought yesterday from Marks & Spencer. I thought I bought too much, but I kinda finish half of each packet (after offering to other colleagues too) by the end of the day! Scary! Came back and cooked noodles for myself. Didn't like the stuff I cooked though. =( My appetite is very scary! Urgh!!


2 Feb 2012 My appetite is getting weirder and weirder each day. Today I had beehoon in the morning as usual. Then recess time I had hot chocolate and one pineapple tart. Nasi lemak and apple juice for lunch, then later went out with colleagues to Swenson's because it's a colleague's last day. She's due in July, I've just gotten to know about it! I only had fries, that's all. Later I went back to staffroom and I vomited. =( Then I made myself a mug of hot ginger tea from instant mix. Now it's 7:20pm and I'm home. My tummy feeling terribly empty since I vomited, but I just have no appetite for anything. I don't feel like eating anything sweet or savoury, sour or spicy. I just don't feel like eating anything! Text hubby and he's having a late meeting, told me to wait for him to have dinner together since I don't feel like eating now. Sidetrack a bit... my favourite Everbest sandals fell apart in school today. Third case this year, and it's only been 33 days! Used raffia string to hold it up and lasted me through 4 hours of lessons, plus heading out for lunch and then back to staffroom, and finally back home. I really hope it can be mended, as it's super comfy and nice and I'm still in love with it!

3 Feb 2012 First gynae appointment with Dr Tham at TMC! He's very nice and made hubby and I feel very comfortable. Baby is now 2.91cm and we can see baby stretching and wiggling the tiny toes in the ultrasound scan! Dr Tham says that baby is very strong and healthy. And that's despite all my stomping around in school, screaming at students, running up and down the stairs and clubbing plus drinking in December. Yay! Please be a sticky baby, stick with being strong, being healthy, and stick in me. Love ya baby!!


No more craving for soya milk. Nowadays just no appetite for anything. Everything seems blah to taste. But I've gained almost a kg over a week! Horrible! Doctor says to eat 6 adequate (not full) meals a day, and can eat or drink anything, but keep caffeinated drinks to one serving a day. I won't have a problem with that. In fact I've not been drinking any caffeinated drinks for days! Doctor also said that a lot of pregnant women cannot drink water in the first trimester because it will make them vomit, so I can try drinking other drinks, anything hot or cold (except caffeinated of course!). But I have no problem with water, although many times after consecutive hours of lessons I'll be gulping down water like mad, which resulted in me feeling like puking, but did not really puke. Shall drink in moderation, and must drink enough. Having said that, now I feel like vomiting my dinner. Urgh... time to get intimate with the toilet bowl again.

4 Feb 2012 Last night after vomiting... hungry again la of course! Haha... messaged hubby who was having class in UniSIM until 10pm. He replied for me to wait for him to bring me out for supper... cos doc says to eat 6 meals! 3 square meals plus morning break, afternoon break and supper! =) We had prata at Jalan Kayu... my cheese egg prata is so freaking big that I ended up puking a bit when I was home. Just a bit to not feel so bloated. Then I went to sleep. =P


This morning had craving for fried carrot cake, black one without chilli, so hubby went downstairs to buy for me. =) Having a little tea break now in UniSIM while waiting... Popeye biscuit with strawberry jam. Was at Popeye with hubby and his colleague as they are going for class together at UniSIM. I was still feeling full so just had a little fries. Hubby didn't want his biscuit so I packed it with me. I knew I'd be hungry, it's a freaking 3-hour wait! I'm now sitting here with my work lappy... finished creating a graded worksheet. Happy! So surfing facebook, forum and now typing this. =) Later going back to my parents' place to stay over. I love sleeping over at my parents' place. These days, it's the only place I can sleep for 8 hours undisturbed. Bliss! But only once a week. (-_-)

Hubby told me he's getting his friend to buy a big bag for me! His friend is in USA now and will be back at the end of the year. He asked his friend to buy either a big Coach or Kate Spade (because these two brands are freaking so much cheaper in USA!) bag for me. What? As diaper bag?! And yes, he's paying for it! I didn't want him to spend too much on other stuff as it's time to save for the baby, but this I never thought would happen... I mean, Coach and Kate Spade are considered affordable when bought in USA, so why not? Keke, that's really sweet of him. (^_^) And I guess he didn't keep it as a surprise in case I go buy myself more bags (higly probable!) before the bag arrives!

Added later: After hubby's class, we went to Clementi Mall... it's my first time there! Had a break there and beside hot chocolate, I let hubby decide what to get for me to munch as I didn't have any special craving. He bought potato curry puff and mixed fresh fruits, which were perfect!


5 Feb 2012 At my parents' place. I love hanging out here. Relaxing Sunday when I just laze around with my folks. Woke up with breakfast ready. My dad never stops pampering me. =) When bro and his girlfriend have woken up, we went out together, they had breakfast while I had soy milk. In fact we all had soya bean milk. =)


Then we went shopping at the supermarket and I bought some Jacob crackers to munch in school. I was craving for laksa since Friday, and I only like the vegetarian laksa near my parents' place, the one I love since I was a kid... and my dad went out to buy the laksa for me and my bro at noon, while my mum cooked. My parents ate my mum's cooking while my bro and I had laksa which my dad bought. He had to walk out to the coffeeshop in the neighbouring estate, not so near, under the noontime sun. There was no complain. When I said I felt like eating laksa for lunch, my mum just told me to ask my dad to buy, and my dad straight away said okay without me asking! How sweet is that? I've been such a spoilt girl sometimes... and then my mum will list out the ingredients she has in the fridge and ask me what I wanna eat for dinner. Maximum love! ^^ After lunch I did a bit of work on my lappy, and went to nap. Now bro and his girlfriend went out and will buy some buns for me as teabreak. His girlfriend doesn't know about me being pregnant yet!! Keke~ Am using my bro's desktop PC now... was looking at Youtube looking for prenatal music and found this soothing compilation "Mozart for Baby". =)


7 Feb 2012 Yesterday was busy, no entry. Now I'm typing this in school, at 10:55am. Emo. Because of my current condition I'm missing a lot of opportunities. First, the KL trip with sec 2s... I'm the teacher IC for a class, doing all the admin stuff like tonnes of data entry of all the info (namess, contacts, birthdates, passport numbers, expiry dates etc one whole list) for the entire class of students, yet now I won't get to go because I'm pregnant. Another teacher will go in my place with my IC class. And my IC class has been telling me how much they are looking forward to going on the trip with me. All I could do is smile at them, feeling bittersweet. Then just now my HOD told me that the workshop I'm supposed to go on this Thursday, the one I've been looking forward to, I will not be going anymore. Reason being that it's for the planning of next year's LSS but at the end of the year I'll be away on maternity leave, so the place will go to someone who is available to plan for next year. I actually had to forgo another workshop that my comm sent me for, for this LSS workshop. And now I don't get to attend both of them. Urgh, I'm super depressed now. =(

Added later: I've gotten over it after a while... and then went for tea at Mad Jack's and had lots of cheese fries, plus pancakes with ice cream and iced Ribena. Now it's over 11pm, and I'm struggling to mark while waiting for my hair to dry before I finally go to bed. Goodnight!


8 Feb 2012 For a while, I'm obsessed with breastfeeding. Gotta read up to learn more about it because I wanna breastfeed my own baby. =)

Breastfeeding: Make it all gain, no pain | FAQ on breastfeeding diet

Also obsessed with looking at maternity pants on Gmarket. It's absurd that I'm gaining weight so fast, it's only week 10 and my pants are getting so much tighter! Time to get some maternity wear... reason for shopping! But I'm going budget. Firstly, I won't wear them so much, unlike my own working wears that I can wear for well over 3 years. And secondly, I wanna save for my baby of course!

Today MIL fried nian-gao in the afternoon when I was napping and told me to eat when I woke up. The few tiny pieces were all charred. I ate a bit and threw away the last piece. And then I threw up all the charred bits, like 30 minutes later. Urgh. I was very tired in school in the afternoon. Probably after 4 hours of teaching (and screaming at noisy kids) and an hour of assembly, followed by more counseling and talking to various students, my energy was sapped. So I left at 4pm (which is considered early, considering that I usually leave after 6pm) and a colleague was kind enough to send me home as he's going to his in-laws' place which is quite near mine. Napped while waiting for hubby to be back to bring me out for dinner, and had dinner at Ikea where hubby had something to buy.


 12 Feb 2012 Wednesday and Thursday are the two most tiring days of my work week and I was so exhausted after my teaching hours, I went home at 4pm to nap. My last entry was on Wednesday... then I was just simply too tired to bother. Went swimming with my colleagues on Friday night after work and had dinner together at the Nihon Mura at Tampines Swimming Complex, before hubby came to pick us up after his night class and sent everyone home. =)

I had to go for Red Cross Flag Day tin distribution and tin collection on Saturday (yesterday) and I'm glad I had some fellow colleagues hanging out with me in between the distribution and collection. Went home to nap after lunch with a colleague, and went shopping alone in the evening. Hubby has to go for a wedding dinner in Sentosa and his ex-colleague came to pick him up, so I took the ride too and dropped off at Vivocity and went shopping at Tangs where I bought 2 pairs of Melissa shoes, some accessories, and finally, bras that fit!! OMG it felt like heaven when I tried the bra... now I can breathe! I gotta get them! And of course I did, and changed into them immediately after I've paid for them, because mine are suffocating me!
 
 
I had work (marking and setting paper) to do but today so far, I've been lazing around. So tired and lethargic, and puked twice today. Sigh. When is this lethargy and discomfort gonna be over?!

13 Feb 2012 I was so sick yesterday that I whined on Facebook and some friends asked if I'm pregnant. I'm sorry I'm not telling just yet... so gotta ignore the comments for a while. =P Just had a simple dinner: instant brown rice porridge from Fancl, which my colleague gave me. Supposedly a healthy instant meal as there's no artificial ingredients. My colleague was very sweet as she sees me eating so much instant noodles last year, on days when I worked late and canteen's already closed... and she thought I should try some healthier alternative, so she bought this microwaveable porridge for me. I brought it home to eat as dinner. It's very plain but plain is good, no smell so i can take it. =)
 
 
Feeling better today. Managed to complete marking the assignments that I didn't manage to mark over the weekend. Had two meetings after school hours, and then set a class test for my sec 2 physics classes. My body seems to know when to work up... weekdays are for work, and weekends are for the body to go mad. Urgh! But I guess it's partly because I'm not back at my parents' place over the weekend that has just passed. At my parents' place I can sleep well and eat well. After almost 4 years living with my hubby and his parents, and I'm still not entirely accustomed to living in this 'new' environment. Big sigh!!

Tonight I'm home alone! Hubby's on duty, gotta stay over in camp, and in-laws over at sister-in-law's place helping her with her three princes as her hubby is overseas for work... so I'm totally on my own tonight. Gotta go do some laundry and sort out my clothes... store away some of the clothes that I can't fit anymore and dig out my many old babydoll empire-cut tummy-hiding tops... keke~ ^^

15 Feb 2012 Feeling sick. Was thinking whether to take MC when I woke up with a sore throat, but decided go to school. These two days are my super heavy days and I don't want to miss so many lessons! Spitted a lump of red bloody phlegm in class after lots of scolding and coughing. Keep seeing stars in the afternoon, which I suppose is no good? Worked till 6:30pm and went home. Hubby's at home on MC for two days. Last evening had Valentine's Day dinner with my colleagues and then bought my hubby's dinner back for him as he's sick and staying at home. I'm glad we left school earlier to have an early dinner, as the queues outside all the F&B outlets were madly overwhelming as we leave. Tomorrow will be my toughest day of the week. I've brought work back but ended up not doing anything... I'm too tired! Hope tomorrow will be a good day. Bless me please!

19 Feb 2012 Was on MC on Friday. Woke up in the morning with so much phlegm and trying so hard to cough out the phlegm... coughed until my eyes go dark only seeing stars and my abs and back hurting like crazy yet nothing comes up, super congested and uncomfortable. So I decided to stay at home and went to see a doc for MC. Doc said throat infection... gave me freaking 6 different types of medication including antibiotics! He did say they are all suitable for pregnant ladies and safe for baby... but I look at the overwhelming amount of medication and was a bit paranoid.

 
And I bought these when I went out for breakfast. There's nothing to eat at home. =|

 
Went back to my parents' place on Friday evening and spent the night with my folks. I still love them and miss them! I'm so glad I'll be spending a month with them during my confinement. Dad bought breakfast for my on Saturday and then mum cooked lunch. Met my close girlfriends for dinner and catching up. Managed to go unnoticed... so now none of them knows about my pregnancy except one because we met up to travel to town together and were chitchatting about maternity clothes etc. Will be borrowing some maternity clothes from her for work... we are in the same profession and around the same height, so I  guess her clothes and dresses should be fine for me... not too long or too short or too revealing. =P

Still taking my medications and the phlegm is still around, which is so irritating! =( This morning woke up to eat meds, napped, woke up and rushed down to Novena Square to get my NTUC Run race pack... won't be running though. The top fits nicely, which is great! My Women's Day Out tops are all too small, and my Singapore Bay Run tops are all oversized... haha. Had a very late lunch at 3pm at Cedele before coming back. It's a chore to travel there though... LRT to Punggol MRT -> NEL to Serangoon MRT -> CCL to Bishan MRT -> NSL to Novena MRT!! But probably will be travelling this way if I ever have to go to visit the gynae at TMC on my own. Which is highly likely because hubby will be overseas for work in March. =/

Here's my late lunch at Cedele:


I've tonnes of work in school! I didn't bring back on Thursday because I felt unwell and just wanted to rest, and ended up on MC on Friday. I have 6 stacks of markings waiting for me on my table so far, plus I haven't completed my EPMS for work review (which was supposed to be on Friday!) and I haven't done my lesson plans for last week and this week! Worse still... coming week I'll be giving class test to 6 classes... I must start marking soon when I'm back in school tomorrow, if not I'll have 12 freaking stacks of tests and graded assignments waiting to be settled! Urgh~ I seriously hate taking MC now. =|

20 Feb 2012 Tripped at the stairs in school and landed on my right knee, which is now badly bruised and still hurts when I walk around. =( It's not even the staircase going up or down from floor to floor... just another tiny flight of stairs that I can't avoid when travelling from staffroom to classrooms. There's a lot of stairs in my school and it's just so frustrating that I'm constantly climbing up and down, up and down! Urgh! I hope I won't fall again... they said that tiny flight of stairs is jinxed and previously many lady teachers have fell there before, including pregnant teachers. And that's coming from a lady teacher who doesn't know that I'm pregnant, but has herself fallen victim to that flight of stairs in a worse way. She rolled down the flight of stairs. I tripped when I was going up... and my shoe's pointy toe got flattened as a result, besides my bruised knee.

Tonight hubby won't be home... he's on duty again. And I brought 3 stacks of marking home to complete. Many stacks to go in school, and this week my Monday and Wednesday afternoons are occupied by workshops, while Tuesday will be going for Oscar test (and thus skipping the school-wide CCE Staff Awareness Day happening in the afternoon)... I hate it when my afternoons are packed like that! This week is my class test week and many students are seeking help but I can't even find a free slot to help them! And then I have to bring all my markings back home... Urgh!!!

21 Feb 2012 Went for my Oscar test today. The waiting time was super long! Over an hour! Good thing I brought my marking... two stacks! I have 3 more stacks in school, and 5 coming in this week, so I must rush through, if not I could have up to 10 stacks of marking waiting to torture me! And all gotta be done and marks keyed in by 29 Feb! Mad rush!!! I had an appointment with the gynae too but in the end after my Oscar test, doc was away for emergency surgery and it's getting close to 5pm... didn't get to see him. Did get to see baby's heartbeat when scanning during the oscar screening though... so am relieved that baby is fine after me coughing like mad over last week and tripping at the stairs yesterday... have not signed the package though. My last appointment was 2 weeks ago and next one is 3 weeks later... so won't get to do any consultation for weeks!

The waiting time at the valet parking was another killer and hubby was rushing for his class as he's taking part time degree, so he was getting really impatient. Since we haven't signed the package, we are thinking to switch to Mt A or KK because the traffic to TMC + parking at TMC + super long waiting time are all getting on our nerves... =/ But we paid for the Oscar test + 20-week scan package at TMC already... so will still have to go back to TMC for the 20-week scan.

By the way, I ordered some maternity pants (2 working pants, 1 blue jeans, 1 gray leggings, 1 denim leggings) on Gmarket and they arrived yesterday!  Heehee... my baby bump's not showing yet but I'm just being super impatient... hahaha! XD

22 Feb 2012 Hate the stupid workshop... total waste of my time! Now I've got these whole stacks of test papers waiting for me to mark!! Urgh~

6:20pm, and still in school. Anyway 2 links to share... wanna share before I forget. Heh~

Before they can speak, babies make friends: study
Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills

26 Feb 2012 Been super busy! Class test for 6 classes in the week, and the marking is literally driving me crazy! Urgh!! Gave myself half day off yesterday (from all the marking, it was Saturday for goodness sake!) to watch Wicked with my galfriends at MBS.
   
Yesterday morning was at hubby's relatives' place... his cousin's GDL. His family made GDL quite a grand affair with all the relatives gathering and buffet catered... not unlike actual day tea ceremony. But I need to rush to MBS before the food even arrived as I booked the tickets much earlier. In-laws broke the news of my pregnancy to his relatives.

 
After Wicked, I went back to my folks' place for dinner, and to mark plus to stay over. Today I went to visit my grandma with my dad, and to hang out with his siblings, and he broke the news to my uncles and aunties too. Now it's time to mark my final stack... I can't believe it's Sunday night and I'm still madly rushing my marking!!!

27 Feb 2012 Didn't have a good day. Came home and lied in bed and cried. Didn't have appetite for dinner so stayed in bed scratching myself silly (the weather is too warm and my eczema is working up like crazy) until hubby called around 8pm. He's always coming back late recently due to tonnes of work, and on other days even later due to his part time studies. He bought me the only thing that I eat from downstair - the fish slice beehoon soup. Although I only ate some beehoon and drank all the soup... I do feel bad for the poor fishes that died without a good cause. At least if you eat them, they died to be your food. I can't even bring myself to eat them... I don't want my tumtum to be their 葬身之地 and let their dead bodies hang around near my baby. Urgh, what talking me? Feeling super emo now. I haven't done my lesson plans for 3 freaking weeks! And my EPMS is in a total mess. Having work review in 2 days, guess I'm gonna freak my RO out. I wish I can just take one week off to hide at home and do nothing. Sigh.

28 Feb 2012 I'm really going mad everyday. Different types of madness. Yesterday after work I came home and cried. Today I went to NTUC because I felt like making sandwich for breakfast tomorrow... and ended up buying a huge loaf of bread, a huge jar of peanut butter, 3 packets of cheese, a whole head of lettuce, and some cup noodles for days when I stay back late at work and the canteen runs out of food... in the end I was struggling to take the LRT with my huge office bag, my laptop and 3 bagful of ntuc groceries... my goodness, what came over me?! >< Looking on the bright side, I'm gonna be getting yummy fresh lettuce and cheese wholemeal sandwich for breakfast tomorrow! Yay~ Simple things keep me happy. Complication overwhelms me. If only everything can be kept really simply and easy. Well, if only.


29 Feb 2012 Still tired. Still drained. Met a parent today and meeting another tomorrow. My students are giving me no end of trouble, sigh. A colleague told my class that I cannot join them for their KL trip due to personal reason, and they were so excited and being such incredible busybodies, been pestering me and asking me if I'm pregnant since yesterday! I told them I will reveal on Friday during CT time, at the meanwhile they must behave themselves. I hope by letting them know, I can 'buy' some obedience... please don't make me upset and puke blood anymore people!!

Today hubby finally managed to knock off on time and fetch me from work. We had dinner at Sakae sushi but I didn't eat much. I told him I suddenly had craving for hot red bean soup, and he excused himself to go to the washroom, only to return with hot red bean soup from the food court. I'm enjoying my red bean soup now at home while I type this entry... my "BabyCenter My Pregnancy" iPhone app indicated that today I'm in my week 13 and day 3... and since it's the last day of February, the precious 29th that comes once in 4 years, I guess it's time for me to make this baby diary public... oh well, only public to my contacts. =P

Thanks for all the well wishes in advance. Lots of love from me!! ♥