24 weeks - the "i am really pregnant" phase

it's now that i actually feel pregnant and there's definitely no hiding the belly! a few have come up to me to say congrats (which was nice) and many more are inspecting the belly as inconspicuously as possible. 

am getting winded climbing stairs that used to be a breeze previously and also feeling like my lungs have just a little less space to expand. 

16 more weeks!!

while the stomach bug doesn't seem to be planning to abandon this mothership anytime soon, the back is actually A LOT better. i almost feel normal save for some tightness and occasional tingling that isn't accompanied by pain. HEAVEN!

27 months - cherishing ...

how she says "goodnight mummy / goodnight papa" with the accompanying kisses on each cheek and forehead, and sometimes ears

how she runs up to us when we get back from work with that look of pure excitement/joy like we were the best thing that happened to her that day

how she fastens her seatbelt in the car and makes sure everyone else is also buckled in "otherwise the policeman will catch you!"

how she laughs at herself

how she says "this is the same hor, but it's actually different", like when she sees the same storybook character in two different books but with different expressions/doing different things

how she has some grasp of time and can anticipate all the exciting stuff that will come her way when the weekend rolls around but at the same time know that she has to get through the rest of the weekdays first

how she goes "this is so yummy!" "this is so yummy in my mouth!", especially cool when it's when she is eating something i prepared!

how she can reason and explain to us why she needs to do certain things (all thanks to my "the moral of the story" nighttime stories and our consistent explanations about why we do / she needs to do certain things), and has shown quite a lot of self control and restraint in recent times 

how she feeds me my prenatal meds oh so carefully - the yellow and pink ones in the morning and the white one in the evening. she can even tell me how long my meds will last me (because she can count and relate that to the number of days - mind boggling the first time it happened!)

her jump and turnaround dancing 

her non stop talking - which only ends maybe 10 seconds before she is fast asleep at night 

how her eyes crinkle up when she smiles and laughs

27 months - sick week

she's just recovered from a bad bout of flu/cough/fever/throat inflammation that then became stomach flu. and now we are down, thanks to the germs merry go round. :( she came back from school last wednesday with no voice and feeling warm and it was only until the past thursday that we let her go back to school but still with instructions to feed her promethezine.

nonetheless, glad we got help while she was sick and unable to go to school. and thankful the stubborn fever went away after many doses of panadol.

22 weeks - check-up / h visits her doc

went for the monthly gynae check-up today with h in tow because she was sick with fever and we kept her out of school.

turned out to be a fun experience. 

doc got to see the baby he delivered more than 2 years ago and last saw as a tiny 6-weeker, h got to see her baby bro moving about on the ultrasound screen and got to hear his heartbeat, and we got  to take a pic similar to the one we took in sep 2012. in both pics, h's eyes are closed (she was asleep in 2012, and now, she smiles until we can't see her eyes).

seeing our doc interacting with h made me realise that he can turn on the charm with toddlers as well! h allowed him to carry her and he even coaxed a smile out of her just through his conversation with her. at the end of the visit, h even agreed to stay behind at the clinic when he asked if she'd like to. win lor.

anyway, i put on 0.7kg from the last visit a month ago (67.0kg now). that's probably less than a kg more than the first gynae visit (at 9 weeks) and 3kg from the lowest point (around 11 weeks). i think i might be able to keep below 75kg this time round (rather than being so close to busting 80kg with h!!). my back will be happy. i seriously don't know what i have done differently this time to clock a slower weight gain though. hmmm. 

and baby is measuring big yet again. based on EDD, i should be 22 weeks along but i glimpsed 23 weeks + on the screen when the doc was doing his measurements of baby's stomach and limbs. placenta is also apparently in the right place and fluid levels are high.

doc seemed a bit more optimistic about the next few months this time round ... he was even talking about how i should be keeping active to kickstart labour in the last weeks of pregnancy esp knowing my stubborn body, but that my back prevents me from moving that much. he didn't go as far to say that natural birth was an option, but looks like there could be some chance. nonetheless, we all agreed we will have to go with the flow since seriously who can predict what will happen in the next few months?

anyway, i am always super thankful everyday for yet another safe/uneventful day. i live on these small victories because sometimes looking too far ahead brings about too many worries for me. it's my coping mechanism i guess.

27 months - quotes from the drama queen

"wuuuuhhhuhuhh... the pizza is spoilt already because i didn't put it properly!" (when her pizza toppings (alphabet blocks) fall from her badminton racket which is her pretend pizza tray)

"wuuuuhhhuhuhh ... papa beat me!"

"wuuuuhhhuhuhh ... you see my bolster is not cold already!" (when we hold onto her bolster for too long)

"mummy, i share the blanket with you so you won't be cold" 

... to be continued

27 months - annual family retreat

we went on holiday down under again this year. 

this is probably going to be a yearly affair if we can manage with 2 kids from next year ... the flight time is very manageable especially with h taking a nap mid-way, no time difference and jet lag to handle and great food/weather and wide open spaces!

day 1 was mainly about planes airports and immigration/customs

day 2 found us tucking into some really good roast duck and fried fish at a chinese restaurant in victoria park. also found really good deals for blackmore prenatal vitamins at the pharmacy nearby. also discovered spicy twiggy sticks from coles! much nicer than beef jerky and less sinful than bak kwa. it's almost like smaller versions of chinese sausage but with less fat and mainly salty. h also got to do a spot of gardening and helped pull up quite a number of beetroot (拔萝卜!) from my aunt's garden which we had for dinner later :D

day 3 was kings park outing day. h can use so many of the playground equipment now compared to last year. 

day 4 saw us drive 400+km south to albany for our farmstay. our pitstops worked for us - one at williams for a rather good fish & chips lunch at the williams woodshed, then mount barker for a toilet break and then straight to albany.

days 5-7 was spent visiting natural bridge and the gap, emu point (including a lovely satisfying ham and cheese toast at emu point cafe), middleton beach, the desert mounted corps memorial at mt clarence (lovely vistas of albany on the drive there), boston brewery (for the playground) and the denmark farmhouse (where we bought a yummy slab of cheddar cheese and had hot chocolate/latte in the sun at its outdoor sitting area). h was took to the resident dog (spotty) at the farm although there was that unfortunate incident of a dog bite on day 7 which saw us going to the pharmacy for antiseptic everything. overall, we took it very slow and easy because my back chose this highly inopportune time to act up and i really couldn't walk much. :(

day 8 was the big drive from albany to busselton. we stopped to visit the treetop walk in the valley of the giants (tingle trees) which reminded me of the macritchie treetop walk - just different trees and much better weather at the former. then we made a fuel and food stop at manjimup before driving all the way to busselton by late afternoon. 

day 9 - revisited busselton jetty and had the obligatory ice cream. this time h could feed herself.

day 10 - the hubby left for perth to catch his flight home, while we chilled at busselton. spent some time at the busselton jetty playground before having a really good 4-cheese pizza and potato wedges at the pantry in downtown busselton.

days 11-13 were spent doing nothing much and sleeping whenever i had a chance.

day 14 was the day trip to margaret river. we stopped at cowaramup before visiting the voyager estate winery with its beautiful rose gardens and for lunch in its posh dining room. then leeuwin estate winery, and a final stop at the margaret river chocolate company to stock up on chocolates for the office and to have their signature dark hot chocolate.

day 15 was spent driving back to perth with a stop at donnybrook to buy locally grown and dried fruit products from the solarfruit factory. also had a very hearty steak (and the lot - cheese and egg) kebab for dinner.

day 16 - laksa craving finally satisfied at a malaysian food joint in bull creek, some last minute shopping at garden city, and then the flight home.

it was a restful type of holiday which was prob what i needed to get rid of my eyebags and dark eye rings. thankful also that h slept well most nights and afternoons probably due to all the running around during her waking hours, allowing us quite a bit of downtime to either chill or sleep as well. also for the many helping hands that helped entertain h so that we could zone out for periods of time in the day.

20 weeks - detailed scan

confirmation of what we already knew - it's a BOY complete with exclamation mark keyed in by the nice ultrasound lady. 

also, #2 has a big head (like his sister) and has long limbs and a chubby tummy. in other words - BIG BABY! relieved that all was good with baby based on the scan. i am just one of those paranoid worrier mums who worry at every juncture of the pregnancy. it has a lot to do with not really being in control of how baby develops. so everyday to me where i feel baby kicking away is a small victory and i say many silent thank you's.

what's not so cool is how the back is acting up again - i am hoping that it will get better soon with more physio sessions and more deliberate rests when i can.

20 weeks - showing

the bump is coming out! like finally! i think it was also around this time that bump #1 made its appearance.

baby is also making himself felt more often everyday, which is very reassuring for worry wart me. still waiting for the time when the hubby can start feeling his kicks though ... tried to get the hubby feel baby kicking a week back when baby was somewhat active but he still couldn't feel the kicks from outside yet. it's going to be fun when the kicks get more obvious and earthquakey in the coming weeks!

hopefully i haven't put on too much weight over this holiday! i know i have been eating well though - less snacks, lots of milk, cheese, fruit and yummy fresh produce (kale, freshly caught taylor guitarfish and squid, beetroot, lamb chops, sweet beets (a leafy veggie), huge spring onions).

we will be seeing baby on 3 nov for the detailed anatomy scan. hope all is well in there!