Every Pregnancy is DEFINITELY Different

What glow? I have just experienced an acne outbreak on my face!!! It is very sad. I was glowing when I was pregnant with Eddie. Now, 2 weeks shy of my emcee debut role in Saujana I am nursing a face with a fresh batch of pinky pimples.

Why me? On top of that, both corners of my lips are cracked. Not dehydration for sure because the rest of my lips are fine. Googling the subject came up with very very different answers from iron deficiency to bacterial infection. I have slapped on a generous amount of vaseline. Lets see if it works. (Bloody hurts when I open my mouth, ouch!)

Appreciate tips and advices to get rid of the pimples!

Sick

The past 3 days have not been fun at all. Sickness came back in full force, and I am not able to keep ANYTHING down. I tried the anti nausea pills my doctor gave me and even that didn't help. We had no choice but to go in to see him so that he could check on the babies and I. (Hmmnn... I quite like saying that: babies)

My blood pressure is good, babies are growing well, in fact the gender of T1 was made known to us today. Well the other one is keeping us in suspense until the next visit. I shall announce both in 2 weeks' time, when the other one decides to shift position and flash us!

I have lost a bit of weight but I also found out that it is very difficult to starve the babies unless you are extremely malnourished to begin with. You guys probably know that I have enough reserves for my babies to go a long way! hahaha... Nevertheless it is important to keep myself healthy and hydrated.

Honeymoon Trimester?

The second trimester is supposed to be the honeymoon period which begins this week. Not surprisingly, my sickness has not waned. To make matter worse on top of my hip problem, my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) kicked in today.

For those unfamiliar with CTS, CTS in a nutshell is compressed median nerve in your wrist (pic above) which is connected to your fingers. The most common symptoms are numbness or pins and needles in your hand. I also experience weakness in my lower arm.

When I was pregnant with Eddie, the CTS came about only some time during my last trimester. The pins and needles in my right hand was 24/7. Imagine having numb hand ALL the time. However you do get used to it. It only went away about 1 month after I had Eddie.

I just cannot believe that this time around, I will have to put up with pins and needles for the next 150 days or so.

A Case of Pain in the Butt

I have seen 2 physios to try and fix the pain in my right bottom, to be precise. The general consensus seems to be that a fall over a year ago has destabilised my right pelvis, while pregnancy relaxin hormone has further weakened it. Therefore my butt muscles have been working overtime to hold everything together which then resulted in compressed nerve; hence the shooting pain from the butt down to the back of my thigh.

I have spent a total of 2 and a half hour this week experiencing various types of treatments and manipulation of my bones. Since my pelvis is weak anyway I had to do exercises to streghten them. One physio told me to do kegel exercise 100 times a day, while the other one told me to "tighten my anus" 400 times a day! Bloody hell which is which I wonder.

What tickled me the most was the latter. Perhaps my physio did not choose the most refined description of that exercise simply because his first language was not English . Could you could call it "clenching butt muscles"?

As my reader, you too must be trying it out to see whether tightening of your anus results in involuntary clenching of the butt muscles. Sig.Ot said no. I say a little bit.

Whatever it is, the pain has not gone away and dear Sig.Ot just said that he will buy me a wheelie walker. How sweet, my a**.


N.B. Regardless of the terms used, how could anyone do it for 400 times a day?

Beyond Miraculous

You could almost imagine the feeling, but you cannot quite capture that feeling unless you too have experienced it personally. As a mother who sees your baby for the first time during an ultrasound scan, the feeling is indescribable. Regardless of how indistinctive the shape of the dot, you cannot help but to feel the elation and awe of how miraculous this creation is within you.

As for me, the first encounter did not yield the reaction I have described above. I am pleased to say that once I overcame the shock and went back for appointment with ob-gy A, what I felt when I saw the twins was exactly as per paragraph above. Not many people get to experience this but to be able to see not one, but two babies growing inside you is beyond miraculous. It is a double blessing.

First Wardrobe Casualty

Why are weddings always held when I am pregnant? I missed at least 4 weddings when I had Eddie. This year, I have only one wedding invitation whereby I have been invited to assume the role of emcee for a dear friend's wedding this November. The appointment was already done last year.

I have even bought 2 dresses just for this occassion, before I got pregnant of course. When I found out I was pregnant, I was quite gutted by the fact that I will not be able to parade in my beautiful LBD. It is so gorgeous.

Rather than to waste it completely, at a close friend's birthday celebration recently, I insisted that she imposed dress code on everyone; black tie of course. She complied out of amusement, knowing full well of my LBD situation. I did not care on that night if I looked more overdressed than most of the restaurant patrons. I was only so happy that I could prance about in my dress.

This may sound almost obsessive, but in the first few weeks of my pregnancy I would try on the dress from time to time, just to see if there was any chance I could wear it 4 months down the line. The first 9 weeks looked very bright as I did not put on any weight at all.

Unfortunately today at almost 12 weeks, I could not zip up past my chest. Off the dress to the store room wardrobe upstairs to be accompanied by mothballs.

Joy of Pregnancy is still Elusive

1. Still retching up tummy content every other day
2. Trip upstairs result in breathlessness, bearing in mind I'm only in my first trimester
   
3. Night sleep is accompanied by at least 3 trips to the loo
4. Not a single foot reflex shop would do my feet (my regular down the road has closed down), and please don't leave comments telling me that I'm not supposed to
5. And it's just been confirmed that confinement lady charges DOUBLE, not even 50% more. The logical decision is to hire 2 of them, but most of them wouldn't work with anyone else. Not surprised, the law of economics applies since there is more demand than supply.
6. Oh c***! Was googling for suitable photo to accompany this post. Have you seen women pregnant with twins? I've been told they're huge, but they are REALLY HUGE!!!!!! Kesan-kesan tegang yang tidak mungkin pudar. Sob sob.
   

Caught up!

Last 2 weeks had me worried as one was about 20% smaller than the other. After all, about 20% of twin pregnancy end up with only a singleton by the end of the first trimester. Size does matter to determine survival.
Today's check-up revealed that both are of the same size and they have got their individual placentas which is a very good thing. They are also most likely to be fraternal twins i.e. from 2 eggs and lets stay tuned for the gender in couple of months time.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

The last time I was pregnant with Eddie, I had an excellent ob-gy (A). Things went pear shaped when I decided to have Eddie back in my hometown. Of course, I did not break the news to the ob-gy until towards the end as I did not want his service level be affected by my infidelity.

During my last visit to see him 3 weeks before I was due, I decided to tell him my plans. Sig.Ot did not even accompany me to see him! He told me that I should be the one breaking up with ob-gy. Men are hopeless.

This time round when I got pregnant, I decided to use a different ob-gy (B). After all my plan is to have the baby back in my hometown again. I only need an okay ob-gy for the usual checkup to ensure that baby is fine.

However since I found out I am carrying double, I shamelessly went running back to my ex ob-gy. After all, he is the best in town.

Now I have to call up ob-gy (B) to cancel my appointment. The guilt in me usually comes up with a lame excuse such as I won't be in town and I will reschedule when I come back. Sig.Ot reminds me that I don't have to give any reason why.

Oh and the worst part is at some point, I will have to break up with ob-gy (A), AGAIN!!!

The Sickness that is Not Going Away

I feel so bored of being sick. I am sick from the moment I wake up until I go to bed. To make things worse, I cannot spend as much time with Eddie as I used to because I feel sick.

The sight and smell of food make it worse, the only thing that I could slurp down is assam laksa which is a very very rare find in Singapore.

I went to a restaurant called Grandma's which hired an ex-chef of Madam Kwan's in KL. The food they served on menu are very similar with modification to the names. For example, the nasi bojari is called nasi bukhari. I ate assam laksa which was OKAY. Nothing beats the real penang laksa right?

Yesterday I went to Old Town to have their assam laksa. I just had to ignore the sardine slices they put as garnish on the bed of sliced timun. I mean come on, how stupid is that? Any assam laksa enthusiasts would know that using sardine is cheating, so why on earth would you highlight the fact by using sardine as garnish???

For now who cares? Beggars can't be choosers. Until I brave the kitchen again and cook it myself, I shall not complain.

Roll with it

I thought twins should only happen to people like Angelina Jolie.

I still cannot understand why I am pregnant with twins.

I do not fall under any of the categories which make you more likely to have twins:-

a. African
b. Over 35 years old
c. Consumption of fertility drugs
d. Undergoing IVF
e. Family with history of twins

This is what I call a random throw of nature's dice.

The Unexpectedness

I always look forward to my ob-gy appointments! I love looking at the scans. But this time round, I was also a little bit worried as I have been ill the whole of last weekend. I came down with fever and very bad sorethroat. Luckily after countless mugs of warm drink of honey + lemon slices, the sorethroat went away without manifesting into cold or cough. In a perverse way, I do hope that I did catch H1N1 and survived with milder symptoms. That way, my body would have now developed some form of immunity towards it.

I went to see my new ob-gy today. My appointment was at 3.50pm and when I arrived there, there were at least 6 more patients already waiting there. Sigh.. she was one of the more common specialists who have got loads of patients crammed into her appointment book. (My previous ob-gy at Thomson was the best. I never had to wait more than 5 minutes for my appointment, every time!)

Almost an hour later, my name was called. My appointment this time round was to check for the baby's heartbeat. Off I went to the bed, cold KY on my belly and ob-gy could not see anything. Apparently full bladder was essential.

So another scanner was called for, the more uncomfortable type. By that time I was a little bit worried because the dot may have disappeared! So the doc did her thing, and the nurse pointed at the screen. Doc did a double take then she went "oh." Come on, that got me bloody worried! And she said, "You are carrying twins!"

Me? I burst into tears.

Trying

We have been working on having our "one more" child. I have always wanted just one more, as a companion to my lovely boy.

I was feeling pretty discouraged after 8 failed pee sticks. In fact in May, I was quite sure I had a miscarriage. I know my body very well, and it functions like clockwork. 9 days late was not delayed period. In fact miscarriage occurs so often that many of us never realised. I suspect most people who never probed deeper were just so glad that their period was merely "late."

It is very different when you are trying. Every day I was late, I was so tempted to pee on the stick. This time around I did not want to jinx it. The last time I was 9 days late, the 9th day that I peed on the stick, my period came on the same day. Co-donor was not too optimistic either. I suspect he did not want to feel disappointed.

So this time round I waited until I was 10 days late, and I rushed to the pharmacy and bought the cheapest pee stick. Woo hoo!!! I was pregnant. I made an appointment to see any nearest gy-ob who could see me on the same day. I found one, called co-donor and told him where I was going. He was flabbergasted when I told him the results of the pee stick!

Saw ob-gy who confirmed that I was about 5 weeks. Appointment was made for 2 weeks later to check for the heartbeat.