32 weeks pregnant

All I can say is: CONTRACTIONS!!! Not the real thing but I've been having really tight Braxton Hicks contractions. One day last week, I actually woke up from a jabbing pain in my right top rib and the contractions kept me awake for 2 hours.

Yesterday I visited Dr Chen for my check up and she asked me to pack my hospital bag this weekend. Eugene missed the check up as he was so busy he forgot all about it! Plus he had a last minute conference call at 8 pm. So I made my way to dinner at Compass Point myself, to the clinic myself and back to inlaws myself.....thankfully public transport is not atrocious in Singapore!

Dr Chen also asked me to take it easy, don't walk so much, don't work so hard. I was like, HUH? then how to function on a day to day basis? I have been blessed to have smooth pregnancies the last two times, I try not to let this affect my normal life. I go on with the housework, I carry pails of water to wash the balconies, I carry Renee sometimes, Russell more often (MIL says we have neglected him). I mop the floor, wash the clothes and bend down a lot to pick up toys and clothes. I squat, I sit on the floor. Somehow I feel like it will help me with an easy delivery as well.

Anyway, telling Eugene that I need to pack my bags sort of jolted him out of his day to day work stress. He's travelling to Texas for a week come next Friday. I assured him no problem! I won't deliver so early.

My next check up is April 14 and thereafter it will be fortnightly. Should baby Riley arrive early like Renee and Russell did, I hope we have another bundle of joy by April 28th!! I will be at 37 weeks then, full term. Baby is now 1.8 kg and Dr Chen noticed how both Russell and Renee were born at 3.1 kgs. She joked and wondered if we could pull a hat-trick. She's funny lah!

School holidays March 2011

Daddy has been very busy lately and can't even take leave during the school holidays. So over the first weekend of the holiday, he tried to do so many things with us, even though he had to work the whole day of Saturday :(

Russell at Sapphire, The Jewel Box (Mount Faber)

Russell with Daddy on board our cable car. Renee was too afraid to look.

On Saturday night, we went to Mount Faber and we told the kids we were taking a cable car ride. They were so excited even though they didn't know what it was! The whole dinner they kept looking out into the distant night, where we could see the cable cars heading towards Sentosa. Finally at 9pm, we got our tickets and boarded a cable car. Immediately after take off, Renee hugged me and was so scared!!! I was pretty scared, this was my first time also, but thankfully it was at night and dark, so I couldn't really tell how high up we were! Russell was very brave and had no fear, he kept chatting to Eugene, who kept asking him, "do you want to be a commando next time? Have to jump from this high you know?" To which little Russell replied, "yes!" Ohhh-kaaayyyy!!!

The round trip took half an hour, we didn't get a chance to step off because the last ride back was 9.30pm. Which is just as well, I imagine if we had disembarked at Sentosa, it would be impossible to get Renee back onto the cable car!!!

The kids waiting for their breakfast at The Beach Hut

On Sunday morning, the kids woke up at 7 am!!! OMG! We had to force ourselves out of bed around 7.45am, started getting ready to go out for breakfast. Eugene suggested we go to The Beach Hut at East Coast as they had a breakfast buffet. When we finally reached there at 9 am, we realised they no longer offered a buffet, it was now ala carte. We ordered 3 sets to share among the 4 of us, there was free flow of coffee and tea and toasted bread with jams and butter. The kids enjoyed the scrambled eggs and hash browns.

After that, daddy brought us to a bicycle kiosk to rent a Quad Velo. See picture above. It cost us $30 to rent for an hour. Totally zero hip factor plus we cycled like mad but the thing couldn't really go fast. I had to stop a couple of times as my legs weren't long enough and my belly was in the way!

After that Renee said she was HUNGRY!!! So we headed to Ikea to look for her bed and also to let the kids snack on their favorite $1 hotdog. We've been looking for a new bed for Renee because we need to make room for Riley. I've been going through all the possible options for arranging their beds/cots. I'm quite stressed over it! Anyway, after a fruitless trip to Ikea, Eugene said he wanted to go to Courts to get a new phone, our home phone has been down for sometime, so we needed to get a new one. By this time, Russell was cranky and we left after getting the phone. The kids fell asleep immediately after getting into the car, by the time they awoke, it was time almost 6 pm for Russell. Renee woke up earlier so I brought her downstairs for a dip in the pool.

We had a late dinner at Parkway and returned home soon after that. It was a long day for me. Everyone had a nap except for me.....but it was indeed a packed day, which we did so we could do something for the kid's holiday.

Russell turns 3!

Mummy me is so unfair, I loaded all of Renee's birthday updates but not Russell's!! Here it is!

Although Renee celebrated her birthday two weeks before Russell did, when his turn came, she seemed to forget all the things we did for hers! There was some jealousy from her, although both had two cakes, both had presents and ang pows. I think she just felt left out when everyone gave Russell so much attention.

Anyway, we celebrated his birthday in school the day before his actual birthday. I ordered a really cute train cake from Bengawan Solo, I though the N1 kids wouldn't really appreciate cake the way the older kids would but boy was I wrong man! Cake was almost polished off!

He was really excited the whole time my MIL, FIL and I were there.....He kept telling everyone, don't touch my cake!!! Look at his stance!! Wah lao!

Ha ha, I just realised his shirt color was the same as the cake!!! hahaha! I got some goodie bags for the kids although it wasn't as fancy as Renee's. But those three year olds probably wouldn't know the difference! Hee!

On his actual birthday, my inlaws got him a Cars cake. Renee wanted to touch it and when MIL said she couldn't she was so upset. That started her on a downhill ride! It was a nightmare lunch! It didn't help matters when my SIL arrived with a Thomas and Friend present for him that was unwrapped. Wah lao, Renee kept wanting to see it and would fume when he was holding onto it!!

After the long lunch, I told everyone to GO HOME! I got the two to take their naps and after that, both were angels for the whole weekend. Really man!!!

7 months pregnant

Visited Dr. Chen for my Glucose Test yesterday. I was there nearly the whole morning and was starving by the time I was done at 12pm! She said baby is now 1.1 kgs and should be 2 kgs in the next month and that I am at the "comfortable" stage right now. I looked at her in disbelief! What the ??? Comfortable is not the word I'd use to describe myself right now! I feel so tired, tight and I've had Braxton Hicks for some weeks now, last Friday I experienced the worst of it after a long tiring week. I thought I was going into premature labor!

Anyway, the good news is that baby has turned head down already and I haven't put on too much weight. Yippee!

Also, she mentioned that Thomson is now exploding with patients. Nowadays it is so crowded that I'd have to wait in a triage. Three women sharing a room, separated by a curtain while in labor. When we're ready to deliver, the nurses will wheel us into the delivery room. OMG! So much for having a clear image of what I am to expect, the hospital layout and everything! Panic much? Anyway today I had some time to check out the meaning of the word "triage".

Here you go:
Division of patients for priority of care, usually into three categories: those who will not survive even with treatment; those who will survive without treatment; and those whose survival depends on treatment. If triage is applied, the treatment of patients requiring it is not delayed by useless or unnecessary treatment of those in the other groups. Triage originated in military medicine, when limited resources faced many wounded soldiers. It is used in civilian settings during disasters or epidemics and in emergency rooms. Triage decisions are made after relatively quick examination; patients in lower-priority groups should be reexamined periodically.

Oh boy, that sounds so horrible!!!

So she asked me to check out Mount Alvernia as an alternative. I think we'd probably just take her suggestion without going on a hospital tour. We just don't have the time!

Have just signed my 10 day home confinement package with Bella Luna. I managed to track down my previous masseuse, Kuek. Love her to bits! Will also be calling up the confinement food delivery service one of these days. Everything has gone up in price!

Oh well, last one, let's make it a good and memorable one! Ha!