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Kaelyn is 36 weeks old

Baby Kaelyn will be in our arms in about 4 weeks time, thereabouts. Kaelyn is a good girl and will listen to Daddy. Daddy often tells Kaelyn not to come into this world too early cos Daddy is still in the middle of his 4-week long trial which will end when Kaelyn is 39 weeks old. Hang in there (and stay in there) baby girl! Trust me, the inside world is more comfy =)

Went for routine medical check up today.

Kaelyn's estimated weight: 2.51kg

Kaelyn's estimated weight gain: 0.25kg-0.30kg

My weight gain: (sigh) 1.2kg

Sigh. I keep tipping the scales everytime I weigh myself. Soon the electronic weighing machine will flash "one at a time, please". Sigh. Must be all the good food I have been having as part of my birthday celebrations--the last one in my twenties. Double sigh.

Baby Kaelyn was shy when we were trying to take her photo. At first, she was facing the ultrasound scanner and making sucking motions with her pouty lips. Then she must have realised that we were peeking at her, and soon her tiny hands came up to cover her face and then she quickly turned away from the "camera". So we didn't manage to get a good photo souvenier of her this week. Only managed to capture her leg pressing against my belly wall. Oh well.

Had high-tea for two at Bar & Billard Room at the Raffles Hotel. Probably our last high-tea binge before Baby Kaelyn comes out. After that, we'll just bring her along!

Had potluck dinner at one of our husky friend's place. His dogs just had a litter of 5 red-white huskies. Aren't they gorgeous? The first one looks like Russy when we first bought him at the pet shop:

[Me: Think Russy looks more teddybear like... whatcha think?]

The Modern Day Dog's Life

It was an extremely windy evening. G and I took a nice leisurely stroll (my extra weight and newfound shape hindered my speed walking) after our very filling dinner of satay beehoon and orh luak at East Coast Food Centre.

This is the modern day version of what a dog's life is meant to be like these days:

Looks like a baby Russy but with big ears, enjoying the wind as the sea breeze whizzed past around him. He sure knows how to enjoy life.

Dang. I wish I were a dog. This dog, that is, not those mangy ones roaming the streets of China with the chance of ending up as part of some rich towkay's dinner.

You've Got To Be Kidding?!?!

This sounds like its worse than being in prison! How to tahan?

No wonder new mothers always suffer from post-natal depression. This must be the reason.

Mad.

Cravings

Ok, I admit, this time its my craving, not G's.

There's a little ice cream place that opened very near home, perhaps a 10 to 12 min walk? Haven't actually tried walking, but I'm sure if the craving is strong enough, I just might try.

It's a little corner shop called Ice Cream Chefs at the Ocean Park condo along East Coast Road, just before St Patrick's School. In essence, this is what it is:

1) Select your Flavors and Size

2) Choose your Mix-Ins

3) Watch us smash your Mix-Ins into your chosen flavors on the Chef's Rock!

The first time G and I went to check it out was National Day, just before catching the Parade on TV. I had the "Durian Surprise", which is a mix of durian ice cream and chocolate ice cream, together with a mix-in of Loacker wafer. It sounds weird but it was damn good! G had strawberry ice cream with his favourite chocolate mint, with a mix-in of shortbread. Also equally yummy.

My craving for it hit again last Sunday. This time we brought Hen and Del there after our very filling gourmet lunch at their place.

And I have the craving for it again today. Slurp...

Anyway, more reviews of ths place here and here.

Globalisation

Singapore, City of Possibilities

That's the slogan for this year's 42nd National Day Parade at Marina Centre. How apt in today's world.

...

The Hungry Ghost Festival started on 13 August this year. Today must be the 8th day that the gates of hell are open for our friends from the other land to visit earth. Several people were out and about in the streets praying, offering food and burning hell money for the departed souls.

I parked at the open air carpark just opposite Borders and there was a bunch of people burning candles and hell money just at the edge of the road. A funny sight stood before me-- a guai lo in a long sleeve shirt obviously coming from some office nearby was also burning hell money in the big cauldron. He obviously looked amused as he stared hard at the paper money that he was burning, probably secretly wishing that the stacks of hell money in ridiculous denominations were real money that he could pocket a piece or two. =)

Golly Gee -- Only 34 more days to go

The extra weight I'm carrying is defintely weighing me down, literally as well as figuratively.

I feel fat. I feel like a Whale.

Sleeping, which has always been my forte is becoming increasingly challenging, as my turning radius has increased substantially and the bed is becoming too small for G, me and my big belly.

Am also starting to feel more tired and wiped out, as if the energy from me has been secretly zapped and drawn from me, leaving me completely exhausted after just a short while of being out and about. Maybe old age is just catching up with me.

Kaelyn's movements have been my constant source of entertainment. Sometimes I can feel it when she has hiccups and there's a soft, constant tapping motion where her head is. Other times, she thinks she's the next muay thai champion practising her moves on me. More recently, she's been doing funny thing in the belly, creating waves and bubbles, perhaps from turning from one side to the other. Her movements never fail to amuse me, a constant reminder that she's going to come into this world to join us pretty soon. I'm sure even though I do wish she would be born soon (the additional weight is killing me!), I'll definitely miss the little moments lil' Kaelyn and I share throughout the day with her acrobatic stunts all the time.

Tomorrow is the start of G's 4 weeks worth of 3 back-to-back trials--which means late nights, high stress and increased grouchiness. All I hope for now is that Kaelyn decides to come only after his trails are over, and not during. Otherwise, I really don't know how he's going to juggle her birth, the first few days and the 3 trials. I'm not sure whether "Your Honour, I really have to go. My wife is going into labour, like now and I need to be there." would work on the judge.

As for me, I've just completed a major transaction (for which I just need to tie up the loose ends). I also need to start briefing people to cover me in case nature calls and I need to disappear at short notice. Think I'll sort all of that out in the next two weeks and perhaps work from home once in a while, especially on days when I feel especially drained in the mornings. With 24h internet connection and access into the Firm's server, I will still be (fortunately or unfortunately, depending on whose view you are taking) contactable and can still do real work. We'll see how this arrangement works out in the next coming days and weeks and play it by ear.

The Princess Sleeps Here

More updates on Kaelyn's room.

The final touches were finally put in (though they forgot to fix on the light dimmer!) this evening. Brought part of my teddy bear collection to accessorise the Princess' room for tomorrow's photoshoot.

Here are the sneak pics:

Gwandma painted the teddy bear chest. Genius, isn't she?

The Wailing Whale Wails Away

Went for my routine medical check-up today.

Updates at 34+ weeks:

Kaelyn still has a bulbous nose.
Kaelyn was making sucking motions with her lips when we did the ultrasound.
Kaelyn is in the correct head-down position, but is not yet engaged.
Kaelyn is still as goreous as ever.

Total weight gain since last checkup 2.2 weeks ago: 0.9kg
Kaelyn's weight gain: 0.5kg
Kaelyn's estimated weight: Approximately 2.3kg (50% percentile)

This is the heaviest I've ever been before. Ever.

Though most people say that other than the ever-expanding belly, I haven't put on weight in other areas, I beg to differ. My face is definitely fleshier (photographs don't lie, do they?), my arms seem a little heavier, and oh... don't even get me started on my thunder thighs! Although I'm sure weight has been "evenly" distributed to my lower torso to support the bulging belly (and perhaps to prevent me from losing my balance and falling over from the displaced centre of gravity?), I feel like a WHALE, a big fat wailing whale.

That's my new nickname--The Whale. Amongst many others. Like the Pregnant Guppy.

I look like I had just eaten a huge watermelon WHOLE, and its stuck trying to get digested in my gut. On the contrary, my appetite has plummetted drastically in the 3rd trimester, though I still eat enough to live, and no longer live to eat. Perhaps its the psychological impact my newfound shape (hey, round is still a shape right?) has on my appetite. I don't even crave Twisties anymore. There must be something really seriously wrong with me.

Oh, but there is one consolation to which I must say I am rather proud of myself for. I measured the thickest part of my belly with the Ikea paper measuring tape, and lo and behold, the widest part of me is only 36 inches! I can probably fit into some of my guy friends' pants!

Hmmm. I wonder what my waistline would be just before delivering. Anyone willing to wager a bet?

Grandmothers--The Biggest Rulers of All

The world is unfair. Whoever said that this world was fair obviously hasn't met The Mother.

In preparation for Kaelyn (?), I was warned, not once, not twice, but a zillion trillion times, "DO NOT BUY TOO MANY CLOTHES AND TOYS--people will buy as gifts and baby will grow out of it real quick".

So when I bought the bare essentials (think white top and bottom separates for home use), I was chided again for "spoiling the child before she's even born". This went on for months on end.

Then, The Parents decided to visit The Brother and his family in the States, as The Mother had not seen her soon-to-turn-1 year old grandson and just-turned-3year old granddaughter. They managed to time the trip such that they'd be there at the granddaughter's 3rd birthday party. Sweet.

Then comes the shopping list. I was asked what I wanted from the States. All I wrote on my shopping list was "Hooded Towels-- 1 or 2 is sufficient" and "if you see CHEAP and NICE crib bedding sets and is not too bulky, buy one set for me too".

It transpires that either I was speaking Russian, Greek or nothing ever registered. The Mother obviously had other ideas.

We were told to "drive two cars to the airport" to pick them up when they got back on Saturday night. You can imagine the amount of luggage they came back with and how much they had contributed to the US economy. George Bush will be proud of them.

Here's a sneak peek of the damage *warning, this is not all the loot*

After I returned my jaw that had dropped to the ground to where it rightfully belonged, I not-so-gently reminded The Mother about what she had earlier reprimanded me for... about not spoiling the child, not wasting too much money and such.

And this was the award-winning reply: "I am the Grandmother. I have the right and privilege to spoil the child."

With this sort of logic, how can anyone ever argue?

And yet again I reiterate--this world is just unfair.

Wacky Weather, Scary Stock Market and Phenomenal Property Market

Its mad, I tell you. The world is all going mad. Everything is going mad.

The world over is experiencing freak weather conditions. Its pouring cats, dogs and elephants causing massive flooding in several regions across the globe whilst causing horrible heatwaves at other parts. Even London and New York City has not been spared. And its even the wrong time of the year for such things. Its mad.

The Stock Market had been experiencing a bull run for the last couple of months, and then suddenly, without much warning, it tumbles and tumbles and hasn't stopped tumbling. Just about everything is in the red. My whole stock watchlist is now all red, as if joining in the celebrations for Singapore's 42nd Birthday.

The worst is the Property Market. Everyone seems to be jumping onto the bandwagon and trying to make a quick buck out of the recent releases, latest launches and special sale previews. 99 year property, freehold property... everything goes. The lines have been blurred and the distinctions of 99 year properties, 999 year properties and freehold properties, once hailed as the premium properties has been done away with.

"Its a dog-eat-dog-world out there", we were told by one property agent, who did one of the strangest things ever. We discovered this last Sunday after a random call.

G and I were reading the Sunday papers and G saw an advert in the classifieds advertising a particular sized unit in a development that we had acquired in the last 6 months. Our stack is the only one with that size, so we were curious which of our soon-to-be-neighbours was succumbing to making a quick buck. (OK, you got me. I admit it. We wanted to get a rough feel of how much ours was worth.) Anyway, as the story goes, G calls the agent and to all our dismay (including the howling pooch in the background), the agent is trying to tout us... drumroll please..... the exact same unit that WE bought! Geez.

"Is there something you're not telling me, DEAR?"

Geez. I never knew that we had even put our unit onto the market for sale. This is absurd. Can you believe it? Agents actually pay good money to advertise units that the sellers don't even have the intention to sell, or sellers are not even aware of someone trying to sell their home away. This is really bizarre. The parents were immediately smsed (they are currently in the States visiting the Brother and his family) and interrogated on whether they were putting our unit up in the market without us knowing. Heh. Just checking...

Oh, and it didn't please us that the asking price this entrepreneurial agent tried to sell us wasn't enough to convince us to sell. Far from it, actually. And of course, he didn't know that we actually owned the unit he had advertised.

Just his luck to get us to call up and enquire on his advert. Oh well.

Go Directly To Jail, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200

The Rascal knows the rules. No pee-pee in the front garden, otherwise it's punishment time.

We let him to the front after we got back at around 5pm. We reminded him again. No pee-pee, otherwise back to the back garden. He made his usual sprint to the front, displacing unfortunate pebbles in his path. He reached the front gate within seconds. Up came the right leg and ppppppppppssssssssssssssttttttttttttttttttttttt came a stream of yellow pee-pee all over the once-white front pillar.

"Who asked you to pee-pee? Who asked you to pee-pee? You jolly well know that you are not supposed to pee-pee here!", the G bellowed.

As soon as G took off his black shirt, Rascal was airlifted off the ground and banished to the back garden, only to have the heavy metal gate slammed into his face.

Go Directly To Jail, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200

It was a breezy evening so G and I sat at the new mosaic garden table set to catch up on the news, with the Rascal looking pitifully at us 10 feet away, whining and howling the house down, trying to gain some sympathy.

"Nope, no way little furry guy. You know the rules and you've got to be punished."

After what seemed like a reasonable time for him to reflect on his wrongdoings and repent, we let him out again, but not before giving him a severe warning. This time, he SEEMED obedient, just happily trotting about the garden, minding his own business, not peeing on any of the plants at the side.

After I was done with the newpapers, I took a stroll to the front to check out the plants, and lo and behold, I had a very guilty dog at my feet, cowering down as I walk. This was a sure sign that he had done something very naughty that he knew he shouldn't have. I scouted around the garden for the smelly giveaway. Ah-Ha! I see remnants of a stream of yellow pee on the SAME pillar! He had the cheek! psssfffttt.

"Who did that? Who pee-peed again at the same spot?"

The crouched-low-on-the-ground-with-head-tucked-under guilty pooch got a harder wacking this time around before being banished yet again, having his freedom to roam the front garden disappearing before his own very sad-puppy-dog-eyes.

Go Directly To Jail, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200... Again.

No sympathy for the recalcitrant repeat offender this time round.

The Makings of Kaelyn's Room

Yet another hectic day for us as we get closer to the day Kaelyn greets us.

Spent a good half a day trying to fix up Kaelyn's room as part of the Young Parents Baby and Nippon Paint Promotion. The curtain man came to fix up really pink curtains to a really pink room. No doubt that the curtain material is probably of a superior quality, with the blackout bits lining the pink bits, but the print on the curtains look a bit dubious... like something you could pick up cheap from the neighbourhood / heartland shops. But upon closer inspection, the curtains had some nice touches of glitter paint stuck on it. Here it is:

Initially the lights that were to be fixed up in the room were supposed to be one of those chandelier ones. But when they turned up with these medusa-head-like ones, several of our jaws dropped an inch, but we decided to have an open mind to see how it turned out when the lights and the rose bud ends were fixed on. It turned out alright I suppose... just not quite what we had earlier agreed on and had in mind...

The room is still not completely done up yet. Will need to transport some of my teddy bear collection and some of Kaelyn's gi-normous clothes collection to accessorise the room for the photo shoot. Here it is so far...

Handsome Hunk

Some photos of our handsome prince--he who rules the entire household and melts the hearts of many, humans and dogs alike.

His puppy days in late 2005 and early 2006




His first day swimming



His first love, Muffin.




Ain't he gorgeous?

Paved with Good Intentions

This is day number 227 and you're 32 weeks pregnant!
You have 53 days or 8 weeks left, and are 80.0% of the way there.

"Labour pains are d**n painful"
"You will definitely need the epidural"
"Aiyoh... Don't be mad. Just take the epidural"

I have heard it all. All sorts, variations and permutations.

Medical technology has improved so significantly over the years till it is almost possible to give birth without feeling much pain--by succumbing to the epidural. Granted, the epidural eliminates just about all the significant pain associated with labour, but isn't inserting a catheter into the spinal cord enough to send shivers down anyone's spine? What if the anesthetist botches up the job and leaves me paralysed for life? What about all the horror side effects stories that we hear? Don't people ever worry about those? What if I am one of them?

Why is it that our grandmas and great-grandmas were able to give birth to so many children, chances are, at home, and probably without any form of pain relief? How did they do it? What's so different about then and now? How is it that women in developing countries are still able to give birth seemingly effortlessly like our grandmas and great-grandmas at this day and age and women in affluent societies think that its the world's greatest curse of being born a woman? How are we different from them? Granted that our grammies were probably much tougher women that we are today, given the little pampered lives most of us are living, but are we really such weaklings and softies that we can't even do what God programmed us to do when the friendly stray cat down the road seems to pop out kittens like she's a factory?

G and I have decided to try an alternative to pain relief. We have opted to tap on my body's natural epidural, using techniques we learnt for Hypnobirthing. We did our Hypnobirthing course at Four Trimesters sometime in May this year and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It opened our eyes to the possibility and reality, which has since been forgotten by many with the advancement in technology, that severe pain does not have to be an accompaniment of labour and that it is possible to experience the joy and magic of birth - rather than the horrific ordeal that you see on TV all the time.

It takes a lot of patience and dedication to practise the techniques and exercises that we learnt during class, but G and I are committed to going all the way to make it happen.

Wish us luck.

Sympathy Sympathize Sympathetic

This is definitely strange and yet interesting at the same time. I used to think the whole concept was a whole load of bull till it happened to G.

Sympathetic pregnancy, that is.

Apparently, it occurs when a husband feels the effects of his wife's pregnancy. The fancy schmanzy name for this is called "Couvade Syndrome", which is a derivative of the French word couver, meaning 'to hatch'.

Ravings on Cravings

Since the beginning of (my) pregnancy, G has been lucky in that I haven't craved for any particular food. I've had a pretty healthy appetite for most types of food and have been able to eat just about anything. G should count himself fortunate that he doesn't have to go through the "I-want-to-eat-the-margaret-drive-char-kway-teow-at-3am-in-
the-morning"& "you've-got-to-treat-me-as-Queen-Almighty-

cos-I-am-carrying-your-baby" phase. He should really count his blessings.

This is the strange bit. G is the one having all the cravings. One day its Margaret drive char kway teow, another day its Fong Seng Nasi Lemak, yet another day its durians. And still on other days, its kueh tu tu and sometimes its muah chee. The list goes on. G's latest cravings that we have yet to satisfy is for "black" carrot cake at "ABC Market" somewhere in Bukit Merah. I've never heard nor eaten at this mysterious ABC place, and he has not mentioned it in the 5 odd years that we've been together. Now suddenly out of nowhere, G proclaims "I gian to eat the black chye tow kueh at ABC Market. Shall we go?"

I eat just about anything and everything. Hence, the fat-ass whale that I'm starting to morph into. Perhaps I should go try out this mysterious black carrot cake place soon to satisfy his (current) cravings. I wonder what would be next?

Weeing in the wee hours of the morning

Yes, this is yet another symptom/side effect that the preggers woman is supposed to have--to wake up several times a night to pee cos Baby is pressing on the bladder.

And yet again, strangely, I am not the one getting up in the middle of the night. G still refuses to acknowledge it, constantly putting it down to "no what, once or twice only", but yes dear, I have noticed this way too often for it to be a "once or twice only".


I hear that some hubbies put on weight together with the wife throughout the duration of her pregnancy. And friends have told me that they have heard occasions where the husband gets morning sickness alongside the wife, to share in her pain and misery. Some even experience the pains of labour. How amazing is that?!?

Others say that its a sign that hubbies really love their preggers wives, despite the expanding belly and the lack of waistline.

Awwwwwww. I love you too G, even though you may be too macho to admit that you are suffering from sympathetic pregnancy! =)