Pregnancy Profile (2)

What with having a new status as a mother to a beautiful baby boy I have gone on a very long hiatus from my beloved blog.  Let me reiterate that I have not forgotten this little cyberspace of mine .  But as all parents know, whether first-timers or veterans to the game, I’m up to my neck taking care of ND; breastfeeding, cleaning, changing diapers, rocking him to sleep, et cetera…and that does not include the usual household chores.  I’m really glad that we have a cleaner coming in once a week otherwise pests, unidentified organisms and dust bunnies will be happy campers in our home!

Before my pregnancy becomes a distant memory somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight , let me continue profiling it until D-day (delivery day):

Month 6:

I could feel baby’s movements were getting stronger though not painful.  His squirms and kicks were more pronounced in the mornings (sometimes acting as a human alarm clock to me) and afternoons.  Thankfully he will quieten down during the nights making for more bearable snooze although the expanding belly and frequent visits to the washrooms make for many interrupted sleeps.  The doctor gave me a fetal movement monitoring chart and instructed me to complete the homework of counting ten movements within 12 hours.  This exercise is to check on the overall well-being of the baby.  The food cravings started kicking in although the preferences will change over the course of the pregnancy.

Month 7:

My current maternity clothes (the bottoms) were getting snug so on to more shopping and spending of money  EL and I have been purchasing baby items in the last few months.  We are very blessed to have family and friends who bought and/or gave us plenty of baby clothing, cot, pram, car seat, feeding bottles’ steriliser, monetary gifts and et cetera.  They had told us that we would be burning a very large hole in the pocket for the new arrival and that warning could not be more true, sigh.  My weight increased exponentially due to my insatiable appetite.  It did not help that my food cravings were all high in fat, salt and sugar (what food craving isn’t, right ?) such as wanton noodles, roast duck, ice-cream and egg tarts.  The doctor warned me to stay off these foods and to eat more healthily  During this period, I had a mild urine infection and had to take a course of antibiotics and drink plenty of water.  My whole body especially feet were very swollen (they looked like sausages, haha!)

Month 8:

Baby has been in a breech position for many months (head up and bottom down).  With the recommendation of the doctor, I did some exercises every day which were supposed to encourage baby to move head down but apparently he was too comfortable where he was!:)  Due to this, my doctor advised me to undergo a Caesarean section operation for the safety of the child.  He noted via ultra sound scan that the umbilical cord was situated very close to baby’s neck hence he dared not risk turning the baby for fear of strangulation.  The increasing weight of the belly is making sleep pretty uncomfortable even though I had pillows cushioning me all around.  I was also getting a bit impatient for the arrival of baby.  In addition, it was the first Chinese New Year that the Loh family celebrated in the Klang Valley instead of Kuantan due to my burgeoning condition.

Month 9:

We had some friends who delivered earlier than expected.  That made me a bit anxious as my obstetrician was on Chinese New Year leave until end of February and I did not want to be pay double the fees for the confinement lady.  We have scheduled the operation on the 4th of March.  Thankfully baby is a good boy and decided to pop out only 2 days before the scheduled delivery.

What about the actual labour and delivery?  Well, that’s another story and blog post!:)