20 Week Detailed Scan

Just did the detailed scan and now waiting to see Dr W for a review.

It gets to me each time I see baby on the screen because it is just too amazing. Today, I came down to TMC alone because my appt eats into B's nap so we decided to let DH stay home with him while I get the scan done.

The last scan Dr W told me baby was very active, kept moving around so it was rather difficult to get a still image of her. Today, the sonographer said the same time. Hehe. One moment she was in the sitting position facing up and the next she was facing down. The cutest thing was witnessing her clasping her hands together in front of her face like doing a "gong xi gong xi" action. Then she touched her ear, flexed her fingers.. aiyo!  Too cute.

I caught a glimpse of her lips.. OMG. She totally has her daddy's full lips! This one I tell you, is gonna be daddy's replica. Her nose bridge however was not as high as bradley's.

Before I know it, the 20 minutes was over. All too soon and it will be another month before we see her antics on the screen again.

Now at halfway through the pregnancy,  I've put on 2kg. I think that's quite decent assuming the weight gain will be faster now. I did not put in a conscious effort to control my weight nor diet but it just seems that this time round I'm not eating too well.  But baby's at an average weight and growth so hopefully this will remain throughout.

Halfway mark!!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

I have been failing miserably in my attempt to blog more. But there's so much going on sometimes I sit in front of the computer wondering. . "Now where shall we begin?".

In the week leading up to CNY, there really wasn't much to be done. B had gotten his haircut, I somehow managed to sneak in a pedicure at the salon opp my place after he slept early one evening, cny clothes for him were bought sometime back so there was only the decoration of the house left which brought us to down to chinatown which we do yearly.

Having signed B up for gym classes and the soon starting playgroup, I've decided to finally push his nap time to after lunch. He seems to be adapting well and yeah.. he does sleep longer, at least 1.5 hours. I have no choice because of this cny where so many things are taking place in the evenings and we can't possibly reject them all because his bedtime is 7ish. Last 2 nights his bedtime was 9ish and almost 10pm because of the reunion dinners we had.. I hope after cny he doesn't stays up this late!!

On a separate happy note, my bump seemed to have grown alot more! It's so tight now I really can't eat much. Consider how I was down on Saturday with an episode of food poisoning which had me in bed for 24 hours. But the bump grew exponentially once I recovered! Must be protesting about the zero food intake that day. Looking forward to the detailed scan next week!

Gong xi fa cai everyone! May the year of the Goat brings you much blessings and happiness.

What A Week

An awesome one might I add, which explains why I am extremely knackered by now.

My mummy friend B (the one who coincidentally is also pregnant) invited us to a free class at The Little Gym at Forum since her son has been attending it and it was Bring A Friend Week. The timing wasn't something I typically would be comfortable with, at 10:10 am as its very close to B's nap time. But some reason, that day, I decided to take a risk and go for it and the class is only 45 minutes.

It was a risk well taken. B was very overwhelmed and scared at the beginning of the class because of the somewhat loud music and ruckus the class was making, and clung onto me as usual and did not want to participate in the activities. At some point, we had to exit the classroom because it was too much for him to handle. After awhile, B somehow warmed up and eventually seemed to enjoy himself, of cos, doing his own things and observing others. By the time the class ended and I finished chatting with my friend, we left Forum at around 11:10am - B fell asleep in the car and continued to have a 2.5 hours nap. With that, we have recently tried to push his nap time later, i.e. after lunch. He seems to be able to nap longer, but I am not 100% sure because today he got up after an hour. Oh well...

Then Wednesday, with no programme planned, I decided to take him on the Hippo Bus tour from Suntec because every time we pass by that place, he gets so excited over the buses parked there. So I decided after lunch, we will embark on a public transport journey. We took the LRT to the NEL, then transferred to the Circle Line and finally got onto the Hippo bus. He loved it! And I loved it too. Because I wasn't driving and had to make sure we get back home in time to prepare dinner, we alighted the tour bus at Clarke Quay to take the NEL back. Needless to say, by the time I get home, I was exhausted!

Since the ticket was valid for a 24-hour period, I decided to continue the rest of our journey the next morning by driving down to Suntec after breakfast. Again, mother and son had a really good bonding time and it was educational too! I pointed out buildings, flags, trees, birds to him enroute and he was fascinated with the Singapore Flyer. Every now and then, he will come to me and say "red bus, big wheel, big airplane" because when we were on the red bus, we saw the big wheel (flyer) and a big military plane flew above us.

Mother and son wefie on the second morning

Saturday morning we dropped by the CSC in Changi to sign up as members because we LOVE the pool there and it is convenient for us, as opposed to NSRCC where our membership has expired. Love, love, love the club and we went down there this afternoon and spent the long afternoon playing in the pool. Suffice to say B had a great time jumping in and out of the pool and he was asleep by 6:45pm. I too had a wonderful time doing laps in the pool. While I was at it, I was seriously counting my blessings that I could do this at this point in the pregnancy because in the first trimester, my morning sickness really had me handicapped. DH and I see ourselves spending our Sundays there and if I could keep up with the swimming and yoga, I hope by the end of the pregnancy I would be in a better shape when I enter the delivery room and hopefully enough to survive the first few months.

Here I am typing the post, relishing the movements C is making in my womb. Oh how much I love this feeling. We can't help but get scared because this is all about to get real in a few months time!! 

15 Things I'll Do Differently In 2015

Rachel from SMB started the blog train on 15 different things in 2015, I thought its a good idea for me to join because in one post, it encompasses so many things I want to touch about. It's not about making resolutions, I'm not one who does that nor keeps to that. It's more about improving lives of me and my loved ones.

The blogger before me, Prayerfull Mum shares her journey as a WAHM and a newbie at starting her own business. Danessa shares her struggles as a WAHM and juggles parenting, and aims to reboots her life by doing 15 things differently this year.

So, here are the 15 things that I will do differently in 2015.

1. Be more patient

I used to think I am patient, but turns out patience do run out. After a few bouts of food strike by B, I've come to realise he is a stubborn guy, more so than I am, and the best way to handle such a situation, although it can be hair-pulling frustrating, is to be more patient. I should stop hurrying him to put on his shoes faster, go take a shower, come here, go there faster. He is, after all, still a toddler. Besides, I'm always the one who wished for time to stop going by so fast, so what's the hurry? So, patience is a virtue they say. I shall attempt practise more patience in my life.

2. Take care of myself more, less sloppy

Sometimes I wonder, since when have I started being so lazy in dolling up? I used to go to work every morning with full make-up - foundation, eyeliner, mascara, blusher. These were my necessities. Nowadays, I'm bare-faced most of the time (not that it's bad, but I have flaws that need covering), and when I do put on make-up for the weekend, it's just sunblock, loose powder and blusher. This year, I want to put more efforts on how I look, not just the make up on face, but how I dress, even on a weekday. I think the better you dress, the better you feel about yourself. So, out goes the sloppy clothes and time for shopping! Oops, I forgot I'm pregnant. Ok, maybe not shopping as of yet.

3. Do not worry about being judged by other mums - be confident and proud of my decisions

I think one of the things that bugged me most when I was a new mum was how other mums would judge me. I don't know why. "Has she stopped breastfeeding?" "Why is her child on pacifier?" "Why are they co-sleeping?", "why is she still carrying her child?". There are so many questions, I think mainly because if I had a choice, these are the things that I would not allow my child to do. But sadly, reality doesn't always agree with your wishes. So moving on, I shall not be bothered by what others think about our decisions and our parenting choices because one will not truly understand the reasons behind the things we do and sometimes, explaining to them is too tiring.

4. Blog more

When we first decided I should quit my job and be a SAHM to B, I knew I needed to do something to keep myself up-to-date with what's happening and stop my brain from rusting away. So what better way than to blog and stay active in social media. Unfortunately, sometimes other chores prevent me from doing so, and honestly, sometimes I'm just too tired to do it. I really have to give it up to other mums who are treating this whole blogging business so seriously and I do need to motivate myself to do the same.

5. Exercise more - more yoga

I never thought I would be someone who is so into yoga but I really, really enjoyed it. After giving birth to B, the only form of exercise I could get was yoga and that is something you can practise at home too.

6. Be more creative in the kitchen

I enjoy cooking, a lot. Before B, I usually cook over the weekends, taking my time to prepare the ingredients and sipping a glass of wine while at it. Now with B, it becomes a responsibility to make sure he eats well. So I hope to be more creative in the kitchen, learn more recipes and perhaps bake more.

7. Be mindful of how I treat DH

Well, DH disagrees with me, but I feel that I have somehow neglected him. Before B, we spent so
many days and months and years, enjoying each other's company but this has changed. We obviously still spend quality time together, and our conversations usually revolves around B or his work. I want to focus on him more, especially when Clara comes along, I think I will neglect him even more.

8. Make an effort to keep in touch with people I sincerely want to keep the friendship

Good friends are hard to come by. Those that have gone through phases of life with me are significant. Sometimes we allow time to distant ourselves or petty incidences draw us apart.

9. Read more

One of my favourite past time since a child was reading. But since smartphones and social media entered my life, I've put reading aside and I really want to pick it up again. It's not the same reading an e-book, I love to flip the pages as I go along. Being part of a book club was a fun thing, although I don't think I can commit to being in one now. But, heading to the book store this weekend would be a good start.

10. Be more flexible and cut myself some slack

I think I don't give myself enough credit for the things I've been doing as a mother and have been fairly harsh to myself. With the arrival of Clara, I think things will get a little haywire, so learning to cut myself some slack will do us all good.

11. Pick up a hobby if time permits

I don't know what this might be, in the past, I listed my hobbies as cooking, reading, swimming, drinking. Yes, drinking, alcohol! It would be nice to pick up a new hobby and something to keep me preoccupied besides the kids.

12. Be less of a worry wart

I worry when B is eating too little, too much, sleeping too little, sleeping too much. I worry when I think I put on weight. I worry when I think my cooking is to salty/bland/spicy/sweet. I worry when I have not taken a shower. I worry when I wake up late. Basically, I worry too much over unnecessary stuff.

13. Be happy & thankful

There is SO MUCH I have to be happy and thankful for. I need to constantly remind myself that, and whatever difficulties or challenges I face at any particular time, those too will pass. I am blessed with a doting and loving husband, a beyond incredible 21-month-old boy and another baby girl on the way. What more can I ask for?

14. Be more forgiving

Regardless to others or self, only when you can forgive, you move on. Forgive friends who are single, or married with no kids for telling you what a bad thing you are doing by allowing your child to cosleep/pacifier/watch iPad. Forgive family members who tell me they had done this before 20-30 years back and it's not as complicated as I put it to be.

15. Love

When I look at B, my heart burst with love. I want to continue this love for him, C, and DH. I want to also love myself more, my family more.

There you have it, 15 things I'll do differently. It wasn't as hard as I thought, and I bet I could probably come up with a few more.





Next up on this blog train is...

Working mums often struggle with work life balance especially with little kids. Susan, a mum blogger of A Juggling Mom shares how she juggles between work and caring for her family while sharing inspiring stories on parenting, marriage and wonderful travel experiences with her family!