For c-sect mum, until I can start walking, nurses in Island Hospital actually pushed baby Eunice to me for breastfeeding. We have made our point very clear that we want exclusive breastfeeding, not knowing what's ahead of us. After baby is fed, they will then bring baby back to nursery for sleeping. So the overall stay is quite relaxing, and I thought I quite enjoy the bonding with baby during breastfeeding.
Until we brought Eunice back....
Eunice kept crying and crying, and I'm not sure what to do when she cries. I tried to feed her, sometimes she will suck the nipple for >1 hour to 2 hours, and sleep, and after 30 minutes she'll cry again. And when she cries, her whole face will turn dark red and scream at the top of her voice... I was totally helpless looking at her crying. At night, I told EG and his mum to sleep in another room - no point having everyone suffering together - and I tried to feed her everytime she cries. This caused me with all the backache, hand ache, shoulder ache, and sore nipples and etc due to carrying baby + lack of sleep. My really sore / cracked nipples seriously discouraged me in continue breastfeeding. I'll scream and kick when Eunice first latch on as it's REALLY painful and the pain will be gone only after she starts sucking. Having doing this for two days ONLY I'm already totally exhausted and thinking of giving up with breastfeeding.
When the government clinic nurse came and checked on Eunice, she told us that Eunice has jaundice and asked us to go do the blood test ASAP. We went and her jaundice level has reached the dangerous level for a 6-day old baby. We admitted her to Columbia Asia Taiping for phototherapy. I know that jaundice is common for newborn but my heart ached like crazy and I couldn't control my tears from keep rolling down esp. when I see her just keep sleeping in my arm (jaundice babies like to sleep). I also admitted as a lodger as I want to breastfeed her.
Eunice was admitted for 1.5 days and discharged on the next day. In the 1.5 days, I lost track of how many times I was called to nursery to feed her, until I was again totally exhausted. And nurses in Columbia Asia Taiping were not very supportive in breastfeeding (unlike Island Hospital in Penang) and they kept pestering me to mix with formula milk. Thank God that EG was there all the time and he made his point very clear that as long as I have supply, we won't give formula milk. And everytime we'll be in the nursery to make sure Eunice is quiet and calm under the phototherapy before we left - once we stayed on till 12.30am - imagine how exhausted EG was being running up and down the whole day, + worrying for his precious.
In order for Eunice to be discharged soon, she has to be fed a lot to poo, and make sure she's full while going through the phototherapy so that she won't scream for milk. Phototherapy is hot and she'll get dehydrated and hungry fast. The nurse suggested to me to express my breastmilk. I didn't want to as if you read up any breastfeeding material, they will tell u not to introduce bottle in the first few weeks, and God, it's only my first week with Eunice. And the amount of milk that you expressed might just disappoint you greatly since there's a poissibily that the milk hasn't came in yet.
However, I gave in, feeling so useless that I have only breastfed for less than a week and I had to introduce bottles. All negative thought came into my mind challenging me if I can make it for breastfeeding. My really sore / cracked nipples were the main reasons me giving in to expressing. I'll scream when Eunice first latch on and the pain will be gone only after she starts sucking. Now, I really salute all the mothers who did exclusive breastfeeding! I smsed / called up friends who did breastfeeding and asked if all the things that I have gone through is normal. So, I used the breastpump in the hospital to pump out all my milk supply so that they can bottle feed Eunice faster and get her under the therapy more rather than having her being fed by me more!
I really thank God that most of the time when I expressed, I can get from 2 to 2.5oz. Even the nurses commented that I have quite a bit of milk supply **shy**. To make sure no formula milk is given to Eunice, I set my alarm clock to wake up after 2 -3 hourly to express my breastmilk for them to store to feed Eunice. The 2nd day, I discharged since no point staying in the hospital as lodger when I can express my milk. I came home, slept for 1 hour, EG helped to setup all sterilizer and breastpump and sterilized everything, and I continue pumping again using the Avent manual pump. I'm very surprise that with Avent manual pump, it's even more effective than the Medela electric pump in the hospital (though I'm not sure what model is that). I could easily pump out 3oz of milk. Quickly, we sent the EBM (Expressed Breast Milk) over to hospital again as EG really doesn't want them to give Eunice any formula milk. (He's even more dedicated than me in supporting breastfeeding :P)
Finally Eunice was discharged at 6pm and I was told to keep breastfeeding her to make sure she poo and pee a lot to flush out the excess bilirubin in order for jaundice to cure. It's not easy of course but to make sure she's well, I had to make sure I'm strong too.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Post Delivery
Since I had my c-sect, there are a lot of things happened without me knowing much. EG only update me what happened after the next day.
I remembered EG's pale face when he came back to hospital after the "scary" experience that he had. He was totally helpless in the delivery room and he told me he didn't know what to do at all to help me, neither he knew how to help me to feel better. The midwives kept telling him to support me while I was pushing but he said he never see me in such situation before and he was really so worried about me. And he felt bad as if he hasn't been doing a good job in supporting me.
But for me, he has done his best to be with me throughout the whole thing. I remember he told me to breath in and breath out and push; and I remember I held his hand real tight everytime when the contraction hurt me during the very last few hours. And I remember he kept telling me everything will be ok soon. It gave me very strong motivation to move on.
When I was wheeled to the operation theatre for c-sect, he told me he hasn't prayed so hard in his life before. I was pushed to operation at 3am and the midwife brought Eunice out and showed EG at around 3.15am (that's FAST!). She was wet, wrinkled, and shivering. EG just touched her a bit but she was too fragile. Quickly the midwife took Eunice back to nursery to do the rest.
I was only wheeled back to my room at approx 4am+ after I woke up.
In the end, I got a lovely daughter, and a super loving husband. :)
And a note from EG to all fathers-to-be: You should accompany ur wife into the labor room then you'll love them much more after you know how much pain they have to go through to bear your child / children. :)
I remembered EG's pale face when he came back to hospital after the "scary" experience that he had. He was totally helpless in the delivery room and he told me he didn't know what to do at all to help me, neither he knew how to help me to feel better. The midwives kept telling him to support me while I was pushing but he said he never see me in such situation before and he was really so worried about me. And he felt bad as if he hasn't been doing a good job in supporting me.
But for me, he has done his best to be with me throughout the whole thing. I remember he told me to breath in and breath out and push; and I remember I held his hand real tight everytime when the contraction hurt me during the very last few hours. And I remember he kept telling me everything will be ok soon. It gave me very strong motivation to move on.
When I was wheeled to the operation theatre for c-sect, he told me he hasn't prayed so hard in his life before. I was pushed to operation at 3am and the midwife brought Eunice out and showed EG at around 3.15am (that's FAST!). She was wet, wrinkled, and shivering. EG just touched her a bit but she was too fragile. Quickly the midwife took Eunice back to nursery to do the rest.
I was only wheeled back to my room at approx 4am+ after I woke up.
In the end, I got a lovely daughter, and a super loving husband. :)
And a note from EG to all fathers-to-be: You should accompany ur wife into the labor room then you'll love them much more after you know how much pain they have to go through to bear your child / children. :)
Sunday, February 21, 2010
D Day
We went for the checkup before Dr Karen went on leave on 12th. Baby has grown to 3.1kg but she's still facing up. Dr Karen asked if we want it to be as natural as possible and asked if we still want to induce but EG decided that we'll just wait till everything is ready before baby decides to come out. So she told us the standby gynae will be Dr Maha when she's not around. Dr Maha had quite good comments from one of my colleagues too.
EG and I went for last minute CNY shopping in Jusco to buy some CNY cookies in case anyone coming to our place to visit, or even if there's none coming, we still can have it for ourselves. :P... We walked from 6pm+, had Nando's (one of my favorite) for dinner, had my favorite Hokaiddo ice cream, and started our shopping all the way till 10pm+.
The next day, when I woke up at 10am, I felt some pain on my back and I couldn't really sleep well. I went toilet and there's some pinkish blood show. Quickly I called EG and he asked if I'm doing well. So, we decided to wait some more since I have read in blogs that some mothers were sent home even though they have bloody show.
I still made some breakfast for EG, and I faster ate my bak gua, pineapple tarts and drank one more cup of milk for my baby in case she decides to come already. I called up Dr Maha and told her my condition. She mentioned that when the contraction is every 30 minutes, I should go into hospital soon. However, my contraction has been for every 20 minutes but I didn't tell her. :P. But i asked her "Is there any double charge if I were to deliver on public holiday like tomorrow?" And she's very funny and answered me very cooly that "No.. Why do you think Dr Maha will charge you extra?"... Well it did make me paiseh a bit but of course I just said I wanna make sure of this.
I quickly check all my stuff to bring to hospital. EG still went and washed his gate since CNY is coming. :P... And by 1pm, we were all relaxed and settled. Still, I dun want to go hospital yet as I dunno if they will reject me and asked me to go home. It'll be a waste of time esp. since I'm staying not near. So I washed my hair, relax and time my contraction, and watched Armaggedon together with EG.
At 3pm, contraction is almost every 10 minutes. And everytime it happened, my back hurt. There were also 3 times blood show. So 3pm+, we have decided (reluctantly) to go into hospital after calling them up.
3.30pm - I reached Island Hospital. The midwife ran CTG for half and hour and told me that the contraction is now every 5-6 minutes. After checking with Dr Maha, I'm not allowed to go home and need to be admitted to wait for active labor. No dilation yet.
4.30pm - Doing nothing in the room with EG. He brought a novel along to kill time. It's boring. I tried to walk in the room since they said walking will ease labor.
6.30pm - Dinner is served. I told EG to buy himself some dinner as well so he bought some nuggets from nearby McD. So kesian, that's his reunion dinner food that day. EG checked with the nurses and found out that he cannot stay overnight with me since we chose a double bedded room and the latest he can stay is up till 10pm. I was worried that I'll need to call him to rush to Island hospital IF I were to labor after 10pm. :(. Dr Maha came to check on me and told me that I had to wait for active labor since I'm not staying near, and commented that my baby is not small.
9pm - Contraction got heavier and heavier. Everytime it happened, my back hurt like mad. EG was trying to massage my back for me everytime it happened and it made me feel better.
9.30pm - We called in nurse to check again. CTG showed that my contraction is every 2-3 minutes apart. It's time to go for labor! Midwife checked and my dilation is 2cm. They asked if I want epidural I said no.
10.30pm - This might be the longest wait in my life. The contraction was bad and my back hurt like mad everytime the contraction happened. I wanted to give in for epidural and I told EG that. Midwife checked, and told me that I'm already 5cm dilated. No point putting epidural anymore. She said that my pain threshold is quite high and suggested laughing gas and a jab that will reduce 30% of my pain. I remembered she told me, "Believe me OK Winnie. It'll make u feel better.." I was in such a pain that I just said "OK.. OK... do what u think is right!"
11.30pm - The gas and the jab did make me feel better, but the back pain was still terrible. The midwife told me that everytime the contraction happened, baby will try to turn to face down. And that's why it hurt me so much as it's hitting on my back. Midwife also told me that the graph has been showing very good pattern and if baby were to face down, I would have been delivered by then.
12.30am - Active labor started. Contraction got heavier and more painful. Water bag bursted. I closed my eyes to try to relax and breathe in and out as much I can to relax myself. But the pain on my back is still killing me. Midwife kept calling my name and telling me not to fall asleep. I kept telling her that "I'm here... I'm not sleeping" and I told EG I'm just trying to relax myself.
2am - Bearing down feeling came. Midwife asked me to push whenever the contraction came. Oh that's so painful and I tried so hard to push but baby doesn't come out. She told me everytime I pushed, she can feel baby's head but when the contraction is over, baby's head went back inside.
2.15am - Dr Maha came. I was asked to push again but to no avail. :( ... Dr Maha said the baby is now facing side way. 2 midwives came to help by pressing my tummy and it really hurt. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain and I screamed, tried to look down and asked EG "What is that?!". EG's face was really helpless - I know how he felt since there's nothing he can do to help me. He told me, "Don't look, it's vacuum.." Then Dr Maha told me she's trying to vacuum baby out and told me to push some more. I tried, but it just didn't happen.
2.3oam - Dr Maha told me to push again and if it still doesn't happen, she's going to go for c-sect. I tried again but baby just doesn't come out. I have already dilated 9cm by then. She told EG that baby is already distressed and everytime contraction happened, her heartbeat dropped.
2.45am - Dr Maha told EG that I'm not going to make it. She asked midwives to call in all the anesthetists for c-sect. I still remember clearly that I told EG: "I'm sorry dear, I'm so sorry." EG told me it's OK it's OK. We always joke about him asking me to check our finance situation during delivery. Dr Maha told me: "It's ok. Some babies are meant to be c-sect..."
3am - I was wheeled to operation theatre. I heard Dr Maha explaining to EG why c-sect had to happen. The pain got worse and I still feel like pushing. Dr Maha told me not to push anymore. I was already screaming in the theatre due to the unbearable pain. And I kept asking when is the anesthetists coming because I just want to get out from the pain ASAP. The last thing I remember in the operation theatre was someone telling me, "Winnie, I'm giving you this oxygen..."
4am+ - I woke up. I felt a drop of tear at the side of my eye. Must be the pain. Felt super dry in my throat, and felt like throwing out. I tried to tell them that I was going to vomit but I couldn't talk. I tried so hard to tell them and finally someone heard what I said. They used something to suck out all the mucus from my mouth. I asked if my baby is OK - I dunno who was around me actually, they told me yes baby is OK. I was wheeled back to my room. EG was already there. I asked him the same question: "Is baby ok?" He said yes. I asked him, "Does she have any mark on her face?" He said: "No... Dun worry dear.. everything is OK!"
Dr Maha told Eg that he couldn't stay for long. I told EG to tell the nurse to bring me my baby for breastfeeding after they clean them up. He did that, kissed me on my forehead, told me to rest, and told me he'll come tomorrow early morning, and he left.
Nurse brought my lovely and cute Eunice over at 5am and I breastfed her for the first time after she's born for the colostrum. She can suck well! =)
So, we're officially parents now!
EG and I went for last minute CNY shopping in Jusco to buy some CNY cookies in case anyone coming to our place to visit, or even if there's none coming, we still can have it for ourselves. :P... We walked from 6pm+, had Nando's (one of my favorite) for dinner, had my favorite Hokaiddo ice cream, and started our shopping all the way till 10pm+.
The next day, when I woke up at 10am, I felt some pain on my back and I couldn't really sleep well. I went toilet and there's some pinkish blood show. Quickly I called EG and he asked if I'm doing well. So, we decided to wait some more since I have read in blogs that some mothers were sent home even though they have bloody show.
I still made some breakfast for EG, and I faster ate my bak gua, pineapple tarts and drank one more cup of milk for my baby in case she decides to come already. I called up Dr Maha and told her my condition. She mentioned that when the contraction is every 30 minutes, I should go into hospital soon. However, my contraction has been for every 20 minutes but I didn't tell her. :P. But i asked her "Is there any double charge if I were to deliver on public holiday like tomorrow?" And she's very funny and answered me very cooly that "No.. Why do you think Dr Maha will charge you extra?"... Well it did make me paiseh a bit but of course I just said I wanna make sure of this.
I quickly check all my stuff to bring to hospital. EG still went and washed his gate since CNY is coming. :P... And by 1pm, we were all relaxed and settled. Still, I dun want to go hospital yet as I dunno if they will reject me and asked me to go home. It'll be a waste of time esp. since I'm staying not near. So I washed my hair, relax and time my contraction, and watched Armaggedon together with EG.
At 3pm, contraction is almost every 10 minutes. And everytime it happened, my back hurt. There were also 3 times blood show. So 3pm+, we have decided (reluctantly) to go into hospital after calling them up.
3.30pm - I reached Island Hospital. The midwife ran CTG for half and hour and told me that the contraction is now every 5-6 minutes. After checking with Dr Maha, I'm not allowed to go home and need to be admitted to wait for active labor. No dilation yet.
4.30pm - Doing nothing in the room with EG. He brought a novel along to kill time. It's boring. I tried to walk in the room since they said walking will ease labor.
6.30pm - Dinner is served. I told EG to buy himself some dinner as well so he bought some nuggets from nearby McD. So kesian, that's his reunion dinner food that day. EG checked with the nurses and found out that he cannot stay overnight with me since we chose a double bedded room and the latest he can stay is up till 10pm. I was worried that I'll need to call him to rush to Island hospital IF I were to labor after 10pm. :(. Dr Maha came to check on me and told me that I had to wait for active labor since I'm not staying near, and commented that my baby is not small.
9pm - Contraction got heavier and heavier. Everytime it happened, my back hurt like mad. EG was trying to massage my back for me everytime it happened and it made me feel better.
9.30pm - We called in nurse to check again. CTG showed that my contraction is every 2-3 minutes apart. It's time to go for labor! Midwife checked and my dilation is 2cm. They asked if I want epidural I said no.
10.30pm - This might be the longest wait in my life. The contraction was bad and my back hurt like mad everytime the contraction happened. I wanted to give in for epidural and I told EG that. Midwife checked, and told me that I'm already 5cm dilated. No point putting epidural anymore. She said that my pain threshold is quite high and suggested laughing gas and a jab that will reduce 30% of my pain. I remembered she told me, "Believe me OK Winnie. It'll make u feel better.." I was in such a pain that I just said "OK.. OK... do what u think is right!"
11.30pm - The gas and the jab did make me feel better, but the back pain was still terrible. The midwife told me that everytime the contraction happened, baby will try to turn to face down. And that's why it hurt me so much as it's hitting on my back. Midwife also told me that the graph has been showing very good pattern and if baby were to face down, I would have been delivered by then.
12.30am - Active labor started. Contraction got heavier and more painful. Water bag bursted. I closed my eyes to try to relax and breathe in and out as much I can to relax myself. But the pain on my back is still killing me. Midwife kept calling my name and telling me not to fall asleep. I kept telling her that "I'm here... I'm not sleeping" and I told EG I'm just trying to relax myself.
2am - Bearing down feeling came. Midwife asked me to push whenever the contraction came. Oh that's so painful and I tried so hard to push but baby doesn't come out. She told me everytime I pushed, she can feel baby's head but when the contraction is over, baby's head went back inside.
2.15am - Dr Maha came. I was asked to push again but to no avail. :( ... Dr Maha said the baby is now facing side way. 2 midwives came to help by pressing my tummy and it really hurt. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain and I screamed, tried to look down and asked EG "What is that?!". EG's face was really helpless - I know how he felt since there's nothing he can do to help me. He told me, "Don't look, it's vacuum.." Then Dr Maha told me she's trying to vacuum baby out and told me to push some more. I tried, but it just didn't happen.
2.3oam - Dr Maha told me to push again and if it still doesn't happen, she's going to go for c-sect. I tried again but baby just doesn't come out. I have already dilated 9cm by then. She told EG that baby is already distressed and everytime contraction happened, her heartbeat dropped.
2.45am - Dr Maha told EG that I'm not going to make it. She asked midwives to call in all the anesthetists for c-sect. I still remember clearly that I told EG: "I'm sorry dear, I'm so sorry." EG told me it's OK it's OK. We always joke about him asking me to check our finance situation during delivery. Dr Maha told me: "It's ok. Some babies are meant to be c-sect..."
3am - I was wheeled to operation theatre. I heard Dr Maha explaining to EG why c-sect had to happen. The pain got worse and I still feel like pushing. Dr Maha told me not to push anymore. I was already screaming in the theatre due to the unbearable pain. And I kept asking when is the anesthetists coming because I just want to get out from the pain ASAP. The last thing I remember in the operation theatre was someone telling me, "Winnie, I'm giving you this oxygen..."
4am+ - I woke up. I felt a drop of tear at the side of my eye. Must be the pain. Felt super dry in my throat, and felt like throwing out. I tried to tell them that I was going to vomit but I couldn't talk. I tried so hard to tell them and finally someone heard what I said. They used something to suck out all the mucus from my mouth. I asked if my baby is OK - I dunno who was around me actually, they told me yes baby is OK. I was wheeled back to my room. EG was already there. I asked him the same question: "Is baby ok?" He said yes. I asked him, "Does she have any mark on her face?" He said: "No... Dun worry dear.. everything is OK!"
Dr Maha told Eg that he couldn't stay for long. I told EG to tell the nurse to bring me my baby for breastfeeding after they clean them up. He did that, kissed me on my forehead, told me to rest, and told me he'll come tomorrow early morning, and he left.
Nurse brought my lovely and cute Eunice over at 5am and I breastfed her for the first time after she's born for the colostrum. She can suck well! =)
So, we're officially parents now!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Waiting...
I went for the weekly checkup. Today i'm in my 38th week, entering my 39th week next week. Though baby has been showing some signs for labor but there weren't any regular patterns and I can't go hospital for labor yet.
Dr Karen actually said that I was having contraction, but funny thing is I don't feel much pain. Just occasionally some period-pain like cramp, which will go away in maybe 1-2 hours. :(... I hope the pain will just last for 3-4 hours so that I can go into labor soon and meet my baby but it doesn't happen. Guess my baby wants to enjoy CNY Cookies before meeting us then. :P
I asked Dr Karen if I'm having contraction then why I'm not feeling any pain. Well, she actually thinks that I have high pain treshold and even commented that if that's true, I can afford to have many children. I wanted to tell her that it's expensive to have babies these days... :P
We wanted to ask for induction for a more predictable delivery for easier planning. However, DR Karen doesn't really encourage it though she doesn't strongly discourage it as well. After talking to many friends, they told me that normally induction is more painful (since you're artificially forcing the uterus to contract when every part of your body is not ready yet) and in most cases they might lead to some complications that will then lead to c-sect. As such, EG and I have decided to drop the idea of induction and just let baby take her own sweet time to decide when she wanna meet us. :)
Baby's weight now is 3.1kg as of today's checkup. I think I'm now kinda relieve that baby is above 3kg. Previously she was around 2.6kg and didn't gain any weight after 2 weeks. I know smaller babies are easier for delivery, but it also means harder to take care since they are so small. With 3.1kg i think it's just nice. :)
So everynight I'm counting down the days and thinking if baby is coming today, but wake up with disappointments when there's nothing happening. Guess I'll just have to relax and like the daddy said, let baby takes her time, and let God decide the timing. :)
Dr Karen actually said that I was having contraction, but funny thing is I don't feel much pain. Just occasionally some period-pain like cramp, which will go away in maybe 1-2 hours. :(... I hope the pain will just last for 3-4 hours so that I can go into labor soon and meet my baby but it doesn't happen. Guess my baby wants to enjoy CNY Cookies before meeting us then. :P
I asked Dr Karen if I'm having contraction then why I'm not feeling any pain. Well, she actually thinks that I have high pain treshold and even commented that if that's true, I can afford to have many children. I wanted to tell her that it's expensive to have babies these days... :P
We wanted to ask for induction for a more predictable delivery for easier planning. However, DR Karen doesn't really encourage it though she doesn't strongly discourage it as well. After talking to many friends, they told me that normally induction is more painful (since you're artificially forcing the uterus to contract when every part of your body is not ready yet) and in most cases they might lead to some complications that will then lead to c-sect. As such, EG and I have decided to drop the idea of induction and just let baby take her own sweet time to decide when she wanna meet us. :)
Baby's weight now is 3.1kg as of today's checkup. I think I'm now kinda relieve that baby is above 3kg. Previously she was around 2.6kg and didn't gain any weight after 2 weeks. I know smaller babies are easier for delivery, but it also means harder to take care since they are so small. With 3.1kg i think it's just nice. :)
So everynight I'm counting down the days and thinking if baby is coming today, but wake up with disappointments when there's nothing happening. Guess I'll just have to relax and like the daddy said, let baby takes her time, and let God decide the timing. :)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Anticipation
Many friends are checking on me through facebook, email, sms and etc to see if baby has greeted the world. Ahh... it makes me feel nervous too...
For the last 2 weeks, there are many changes happened to me, mainly physical.
1. I developed trigger finger on my right thumb on my 36th week of pregnancy. It clicks when I try to bend my thumb. Sometimes in the morning, I can't bend it down until maybe noon? And now, as when I'm writing this, I couldn't bend it down yet. Ah well I can if I put some force on it but it hurts.
2. My wrist pain also surfaced on my 37th week of pregnancy. I googled up in internet and found that it's called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and this is quite common among pregnant ladies. Though EG has been scolding me for playing too much Bejeweled Blitz (:P), however, I still check with Dr Karen and she said that whatever changes that happen to me now, they will assume it's due to pregnancy, and expect things to return to its normal state 6 weeks after delivery. However, if it doesn't, then I'll need to seek for medication or diagnose. :(
3. I know pregnant ladies tend to be very hot but I didn't expect it to be SO HOT. During weekends, I'll bathe easily 3-4 times a day as I sweat like crazy. So now, i'll hide in the study room with air-cond on so that I don't feel so hot, and I set the timer for the air-cond in my room to on longer so that I won't wake up with sweaty body. Good luck to my electricity bill this month then. :P
The trigger finger doesn't really give me much problem - i mean we still can do a lot of things with a straight thumb :P (maybe only when I'm trying to type sms at my phone) but the wrist pain does. I mean, we do turn our wrist when doing the smallest thing like wearing pants after toilet, filling up water bottle, cleaning the plates, tying up plastic bags. Sometimes I might just scream (in my heart laa) when my wrist suddenly locked by itself when I accidentally turned them. But there's nothing that I can do now. Only pray that things will get better after delivery. :)
I'm now in my 38th week - waiting anxiously and counting days and wondering when is baby coming to meet us and to greet the world. There were signs of delivery - but too bad they were all false labor signs. Argh... I had loose bowel for the last 2 days and can feel the period-pain like contractions since then but the patterns are irregular so I still can't go in for labor yet.
Dr Karen told me to walk more and it'll help baby to go lower and hence labor. Since EG is never free to bring me for any walk in park, and going to shopping malls after work is out of the question, so I've been walking up and down in my own house while watching tv. I hope it helps.
Last night, in fact I had contractions from 3am to 4.30am. And I was looking at the time everytime the contractions came. However, after 4.30am, I fell asleep and woke up only at 7am. My naughty baby is playing with me I guess. Gahh... I thought her birthday will be on the 9th Feb. :P
Anyway, I shall just be patient and wait upon God's timing. I really hope that our lovely baby will come out soon to greet everyone. :)
For the last 2 weeks, there are many changes happened to me, mainly physical.
1. I developed trigger finger on my right thumb on my 36th week of pregnancy. It clicks when I try to bend my thumb. Sometimes in the morning, I can't bend it down until maybe noon? And now, as when I'm writing this, I couldn't bend it down yet. Ah well I can if I put some force on it but it hurts.
2. My wrist pain also surfaced on my 37th week of pregnancy. I googled up in internet and found that it's called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and this is quite common among pregnant ladies. Though EG has been scolding me for playing too much Bejeweled Blitz (:P), however, I still check with Dr Karen and she said that whatever changes that happen to me now, they will assume it's due to pregnancy, and expect things to return to its normal state 6 weeks after delivery. However, if it doesn't, then I'll need to seek for medication or diagnose. :(
3. I know pregnant ladies tend to be very hot but I didn't expect it to be SO HOT. During weekends, I'll bathe easily 3-4 times a day as I sweat like crazy. So now, i'll hide in the study room with air-cond on so that I don't feel so hot, and I set the timer for the air-cond in my room to on longer so that I won't wake up with sweaty body. Good luck to my electricity bill this month then. :P
The trigger finger doesn't really give me much problem - i mean we still can do a lot of things with a straight thumb :P (maybe only when I'm trying to type sms at my phone) but the wrist pain does. I mean, we do turn our wrist when doing the smallest thing like wearing pants after toilet, filling up water bottle, cleaning the plates, tying up plastic bags. Sometimes I might just scream (in my heart laa) when my wrist suddenly locked by itself when I accidentally turned them. But there's nothing that I can do now. Only pray that things will get better after delivery. :)
I'm now in my 38th week - waiting anxiously and counting days and wondering when is baby coming to meet us and to greet the world. There were signs of delivery - but too bad they were all false labor signs. Argh... I had loose bowel for the last 2 days and can feel the period-pain like contractions since then but the patterns are irregular so I still can't go in for labor yet.
Dr Karen told me to walk more and it'll help baby to go lower and hence labor. Since EG is never free to bring me for any walk in park, and going to shopping malls after work is out of the question, so I've been walking up and down in my own house while watching tv. I hope it helps.
Last night, in fact I had contractions from 3am to 4.30am. And I was looking at the time everytime the contractions came. However, after 4.30am, I fell asleep and woke up only at 7am. My naughty baby is playing with me I guess. Gahh... I thought her birthday will be on the 9th Feb. :P
Anyway, I shall just be patient and wait upon God's timing. I really hope that our lovely baby will come out soon to greet everyone. :)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Full Term
Finally, I'm now at my 37th weeks of my pregnancy - that marks the full term. It means, baby is now mature to come out anytime. However, by the standard, doctor will normally count the due date till the 40th weeks. Basically it means, we're going to be parents officially in another 3 weeks time.
Are we excited? Hmm... funnily we don't really feel much. Maybe we don't know what to expect yet so we're still taking things easily. Sometimes in the morning when I wake up, I could actually forget that I'm pregnant until I try to get up from bed. :P...
How am I feeling? Well, I do feel some pain here and there this week on the tummy as well as at the back. I'm not sure if it's contraction or just braxton hicks but after checking with doctor, it's just some pregnancy symptoms that have nothing to worry about. And Dr Karen asked me to walk more in shopping mall as per her check this morning, baby has engaged well but she hasn't came down yet. And hence, she doesn't expect anything to happen this week.
How's baby doing? She's still facing up. And her weight didn't increase since last checkup. Dr Karen actually commented that she expected our baby to be at the smaller side since both me and EG are small size. However, we'll have to confirm that again later and the estimated fetal weight from ultrasound is never accurate. Baby's movements these days are not as much as previously as well - maybe because there isn't much space for her to move around anymore.
So, we're still going to take it easy and enjoy my daily life & work everyday before baby's arrival since everyone has been scaring us that baby's arrival will totally change everything. :P
Are we excited? Hmm... funnily we don't really feel much. Maybe we don't know what to expect yet so we're still taking things easily. Sometimes in the morning when I wake up, I could actually forget that I'm pregnant until I try to get up from bed. :P...
How am I feeling? Well, I do feel some pain here and there this week on the tummy as well as at the back. I'm not sure if it's contraction or just braxton hicks but after checking with doctor, it's just some pregnancy symptoms that have nothing to worry about. And Dr Karen asked me to walk more in shopping mall as per her check this morning, baby has engaged well but she hasn't came down yet. And hence, she doesn't expect anything to happen this week.
How's baby doing? She's still facing up. And her weight didn't increase since last checkup. Dr Karen actually commented that she expected our baby to be at the smaller side since both me and EG are small size. However, we'll have to confirm that again later and the estimated fetal weight from ultrasound is never accurate. Baby's movements these days are not as much as previously as well - maybe because there isn't much space for her to move around anymore.
So, we're still going to take it easy and enjoy my daily life & work everyday before baby's arrival since everyone has been scaring us that baby's arrival will totally change everything. :P
Monday, January 25, 2010
Nom... Nom... Nom....
As mentioned in previous posts, 3rd trimester has been very tiring. My feet swell bad almost every night. I have increased the no. of pillows underneath my feet from 1 pillow to 2 pillows, and it seems like it doesn't do much help. It makes me feel really uncomfortable esp. when I'm walking around. So what I did was to stack up two poofs at home and put my legs high up before I sleep. And it helps tremendously. Besides, my fingers also started swelling. I can't even hold a fist when I wake up, and have problem holding my toothbrush to brush my teeth.
Besides that, my dear baby has been moving very actively inside my tummy, and sometimes it makes me feel rather uncomfortable esp. when I'm trying to concentrate in my work. But still, I try to move around as much as I can to make sure I don't just lie there doing nothing since according to the magazines, pregnant mummy should be doing even more exercises while approaching the due date. Since I have no time for exercise, I just continue with whatever that I can do at home. =)
For baby, we went for our checkup on my 35th week. While waiting, I was telling EG that since the last checkup baby is ~1.95kg. Using the growth rate per the last 2 checkup, this round we should be expecting baby to grow up to 2.2kg or so. But to our great surprise, our dear baby has put on 600gm and she's now 2.6kg! My goshhh....! I was really shocked and asked Dr Karen if the growth is OK. She said it's ok since now baby will start to put on a lot. Funnily, my weight has been stagnant at 57kg with no up-going trend - and I don't wish to see the weight keep going up anyway. :P. Seems like my baby has been busy feeding herself and putting on weight inside... =)... I hope she doesn't become a fatty girl next time :D
Dr Karen mentioned that as long as baby is >2.5kg, it'll be safe to deliver as baby is not too small. Many asked how do we know the baby's weight - yeah, we asked this question as well during our checkup and it's done by measuring the baby's head circumference. All by calculations so it might not be exactly accurate.
Besides that, my dear baby has also engaged (or locked in) already. However, she's facing upward. She needs to face downward in order for a smooth normal delivery. I hope she'll face down soon. EG has been talking to her and ask her to behave well so that she will come out smoothly and both me and her will have a good experience in delivery. I was also hoping to get a face profile printout to show my mum when she came visiting me but my baby was shy that day. She was covering her face with her small little hands and hence we couldn't get the picture. =)
I'm approaching my full term 37 weeks by end of January and I wonder how big is my baby now in my tummy coz my weight is still the same. However, I've been feeling even more tired, and I can feel my tummy getting lower and lower and it makes me feel very uncomfortable esp. when I am sitting down.
Braxton Hicks are happening very often now and sometimes I can feel some mild contractions. And when it happens, I will go sleep to relax myself. I also felt some rhythmic pain at the back and I read somewhere in internet that it might also be caused by contraction.
I have told my baby to come before CNY so that I can dress her nicely with the cute and nice dresses that her yiyi bought from UK for her. Let's see if she really keep her promises. =)
Can't wait to meet our little bundle of joy soon. The daddy is especially excited and anxious for her arrival soon. =)
Besides that, my dear baby has been moving very actively inside my tummy, and sometimes it makes me feel rather uncomfortable esp. when I'm trying to concentrate in my work. But still, I try to move around as much as I can to make sure I don't just lie there doing nothing since according to the magazines, pregnant mummy should be doing even more exercises while approaching the due date. Since I have no time for exercise, I just continue with whatever that I can do at home. =)
For baby, we went for our checkup on my 35th week. While waiting, I was telling EG that since the last checkup baby is ~1.95kg. Using the growth rate per the last 2 checkup, this round we should be expecting baby to grow up to 2.2kg or so. But to our great surprise, our dear baby has put on 600gm and she's now 2.6kg! My goshhh....! I was really shocked and asked Dr Karen if the growth is OK. She said it's ok since now baby will start to put on a lot. Funnily, my weight has been stagnant at 57kg with no up-going trend - and I don't wish to see the weight keep going up anyway. :P. Seems like my baby has been busy feeding herself and putting on weight inside... =)... I hope she doesn't become a fatty girl next time :D
Dr Karen mentioned that as long as baby is >2.5kg, it'll be safe to deliver as baby is not too small. Many asked how do we know the baby's weight - yeah, we asked this question as well during our checkup and it's done by measuring the baby's head circumference. All by calculations so it might not be exactly accurate.
Besides that, my dear baby has also engaged (or locked in) already. However, she's facing upward. She needs to face downward in order for a smooth normal delivery. I hope she'll face down soon. EG has been talking to her and ask her to behave well so that she will come out smoothly and both me and her will have a good experience in delivery. I was also hoping to get a face profile printout to show my mum when she came visiting me but my baby was shy that day. She was covering her face with her small little hands and hence we couldn't get the picture. =)
I'm approaching my full term 37 weeks by end of January and I wonder how big is my baby now in my tummy coz my weight is still the same. However, I've been feeling even more tired, and I can feel my tummy getting lower and lower and it makes me feel very uncomfortable esp. when I am sitting down.
Braxton Hicks are happening very often now and sometimes I can feel some mild contractions. And when it happens, I will go sleep to relax myself. I also felt some rhythmic pain at the back and I read somewhere in internet that it might also be caused by contraction.
I have told my baby to come before CNY so that I can dress her nicely with the cute and nice dresses that her yiyi bought from UK for her. Let's see if she really keep her promises. =)
Can't wait to meet our little bundle of joy soon. The daddy is especially excited and anxious for her arrival soon. =)
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happy New Year!
A quick update on the last day of 2009. :)
As per now, I'm in my 32.5 weeks and our baby has grown to 1.95kg. It's nearly 200gm increase from the last 2.5 weeks. I thought the growth as a bit little but Dr Karen actually told us that the previous growth of 400gm was a bit too much. Oooppsss... think it's because of the durians. :P
Baby is getting more and more active everyday and she actually hurts me sometimes as she kicks too much. 3rd trimester might be one of the hardest trimester throughout my whole pregnancy as I'm
(1) always feeling hot - I sweat like I have just ran two rounds at the taman after cooking dinner
(2) always feeling tired - sleeping for 8-9 hours doesn't seem enough!
(3) getting harder to find a comfortable position to lie down or to sleep as my dear baby is doing her funny actions inside that makes me can't breathe at time!
(4) feeling tired very easily - walking in shopping mall is a tough job now and I always look out for benches or chairs
(5) getting hard to move around esp. to get up from bed to go toilet when urination gets more and more frequent now - even EG finds it funny to see me trying to hard to get up from bed
(6) having my swelling feet that I can't fit in almost all of my shoes! :P
But I thank God that I'm only facing this now and I only have another 1.5 months to go! Yay!
Lastly, Happy New Year to all of you from daddy, mummy and baby Eunice. :)
Oh yah, my last ultrasound shows that our baby has hair now... How cute... :) :) :)
As per now, I'm in my 32.5 weeks and our baby has grown to 1.95kg. It's nearly 200gm increase from the last 2.5 weeks. I thought the growth as a bit little but Dr Karen actually told us that the previous growth of 400gm was a bit too much. Oooppsss... think it's because of the durians. :P
Baby is getting more and more active everyday and she actually hurts me sometimes as she kicks too much. 3rd trimester might be one of the hardest trimester throughout my whole pregnancy as I'm
(1) always feeling hot - I sweat like I have just ran two rounds at the taman after cooking dinner
(2) always feeling tired - sleeping for 8-9 hours doesn't seem enough!
(3) getting harder to find a comfortable position to lie down or to sleep as my dear baby is doing her funny actions inside that makes me can't breathe at time!
(4) feeling tired very easily - walking in shopping mall is a tough job now and I always look out for benches or chairs
(5) getting hard to move around esp. to get up from bed to go toilet when urination gets more and more frequent now - even EG finds it funny to see me trying to hard to get up from bed
(6) having my swelling feet that I can't fit in almost all of my shoes! :P
But I thank God that I'm only facing this now and I only have another 1.5 months to go! Yay!
Lastly, Happy New Year to all of you from daddy, mummy and baby Eunice. :)
Oh yah, my last ultrasound shows that our baby has hair now... How cute... :) :) :)
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