My overall Pregnancy Experience as i am nearing my EDD

Hello readers! I am writing this post for sharing as well as to document my first pregnancy experience for this past 10 months. As of to-date, i am in my 3rd trimester, week 38 day 6, my original EDD is on 1 Oct 2020, however my birth plan is via elective c section so i decided to have my c section date on 25 Sep 2020 which is only 2 days more to go!

Do take note my sharing is based on my own, every women's pregnancy is unique and different so do not be afraid if you do have fears towards childbirth like i do! For my case, i think it is only tough during the first trimester for me.

As i am nearing the end of my pregnancy, i am just amazed how times really flies, in this year 2020, as much as covid has affected everyone's life and everyone is confined in Singapore without being able to travel, i think this is a timely period for me to be pregnant and giving birth to my baby. Haha, mainly because for the first trimester, i still goes to work, but the rest of the second and third trimester, i have been working from home due to covid and i think this is a privilege that i really cherished because pregnancy is tough but because i was working from home, i  have enough rest since i don't have to wake up early to travel to my workplace and because i moved back to my mum house, my meals are also well taken care of, and as my stomach get bigger and bigger i do not need to buy more maternity dress since i am usually in my home wear while working from home. :)

During my 1st trimester, when i found out i am pregnant, my morning sickness has been very consistent and it is a terrible feeling for me waking up every morning gagging but still having to prepare to go for work. My morning sickness lasted until the start of my second trimester, but luckily i was working from home by then so it's still ok because nobody will see me gagging most of the time. I was feeling very tired most of the time and i remember there were days my morning sickness got so bad that i vomitted when i haven't even had any breakfast and this was twice during public places! Once in the train and worse when i didn't even prepare any vomit bag because i thought i wouldn't really vomit anything since most of the times it's just nauseous and gagging. Second time i prepare a vomit bag but it's overflow and i feel so bad for making a mess of the place. At times i vomit but there was nothing and this feeling sucks too. 

My 2nd trimester was by far the best part of the pregnancy that i enjoyed throughout the entire pregnancy as my morning sickness went off, i become more energetic and i feel normal like pre-pregnancy, no mood swings, stomach was not too big so i was able to sleep well, rest well. So far i didn't have any headache, water retention, cramps during this pregnancy. I didn't have any strong cravings too but i do eat alot until the doctor is asking me to stop eating so much. I love sweet stuffs and bubble tea, i think i drink bubble tea alot during this pregnancy. Hahaha. 

I had heartburn for few times as i feel the burning pain at my lower chest, initially i didn't even know it was heartburn until i google it. Most terrible feeling ever. Beside heartburn, there was another incident i feel it was gastric pain but the doctor told me it's probably something that i eat wrong, the kind of pain that stirred up every few sec is really no joke, it hurt so bad i was just rolling on my bed, even if i don't move, the pain persist, and i ended up crying so hard and telling myself i am definitely not opting for natural birth since i can't even tolerate such pain. This pain lasted for several hours and i only become better after i vomit, and this happen in the middle of the night zz. 

Throughout the whole pregnancy, i don't think i have a sensitive smell too which some women might have which i think i am still lucky so i won't feel nauseous if i happen to smell anything that is smell bad to me. Everything was pretty normal. 

But after i am nearing the end of my 2nd trimester and reaching the 3rd trimester, this is the anxiety period when i started to think of the actual day and i couldn't really sleep well. I was growing bigger, it was getting difficult for me to move and turn when i am sleeping, i can't get up immediately whenever i am getting up from my bed every morning due to the big tummy. 

There were many thoughts, even though each gynae reviews shows baby are healthy, so i didn't have to think so much on his health but there were other concerns which scan might not shows, for eg, birthmark, what if the baby has birthmark on his face? what if he is not cute at all? This might sound silly but this was my exact feeling all the way to the actual day of birth. I am also worried on the actual day how it is going to be like, whether there might be complications during the operation, and what if the anesthesiologist didn't inject enough dosage of the anesthesia and i feel the pain during the operation? or what if the doctor didn't manage to reach on time and the anesthesia wears off? Death is my biggest fear so i really hope everything can goes well smoothly but it's hard not to think about it despite assurance from many of my friends. Haha

I didn't went to watch the natural birth or c sec videos to avoid having fear on the actual birth day, but i do lots of research and checked with some of my friends that had delivered via c section of how it is like, for eg. many say the operation is super fast, it takes only about 30min for the operation to end, they also told me i will feel tugging on my tummy when the doctor is getting the baby out as well as because i am conscious since they will only numb my lower part of the body, so i will be able to hear all the sounds going on in the operation. By understanding all this makes me less scared of the actual day and have some rough idea of how it is going to be like.

But for me, i do know that natural birth delivery is definitely out of the question for me, even though i didn't watch the actual footage video of how the baby arrived to this world, but i watched video of women going through natural birth delivery and it is too tough for me to handle. They are just so brave to tolerate hours of the contractions and i don't think i can do it, so even though the doctor told me my body is able to deliver naturally, but no thanks!

My gynae is a cute man when he always pretend he didn't know i want to deliver via c section when i have been telling him during my 1st trimester because he is a pro-natural doctor. Haha he will always ask me why and try to bluff me! Haha for eg, the long hours of waiting and contractions before the actual pushing. I have never seen any women delivering via natural birth get the baby out in 30mins, it is usually long hours of waiting for the dilation, even though every women varies, but during this long hours of waiting comes with contraction, as much as they mentioned there is epidural available, but i just don't want my vagina to expand up to 10cm because the post birth pain will be terrible even though many mentioned the recovery is faster than c section. The pushing part probably will takes 10min but i am referring to the moment waiting for the cervix to open, it is just too long!

In Singapore, if you opt for natural delivery but imagine waiting for so many hours but the baby still doesn't want to come out and you eventually have to go for c section, it's pretty much waste of time isn't it?  Especially they will charge you twice as well, one for natural birth and one more due to emergency C-section. I doesn't want to take this risk. Even though many are always pro towards natural birth, but i think birth plan is personal for every mummy, you have the choice to decide which is more comfortable for you and not be swayed by just because everyone is going natural, or hearsay natural is good for baby and you want to do the same. Many baby that are delivered through c section are living healthy too, i am a true case as i am also delivered via c section.

Thus i will prefer planned c section and choose it to be my birth plan because it's fast, less worrying compare to natural birth on when your water bag is going to break, and what to do if it really do and wondering which day is your baby coming to this world. If you are a first time mummy going for the planned c section, you probably will only be worrying the actual thing on the actual day.

 I shall share in another post my birth experience after that!

Till then. 

 

Failed OGTT test/ Things to buy for baby

Hello readers! During week 24 - 28week of pregnancy, it is common when doctor required you to do a OGTT which is the glucose test, this is to check if you might have any gestational diabetics during pregnancy.

I was told to fast the day before and arrive in the clinic early morning, so they will prick on my finger to test my sugar level, after that they give me this orange drink that you will have to finish the entire bottle, nobody will tell you they love this drink even though its orange flavor, when you take the first sip, the taste is still alright, but because it's too sweet, after you drink it halfway, you will feel sick. The nurse told me if i vomit out halfway, the test will be cancelled so i try to make sure i don't vomit anything out, while drinking plain water at the same time. They will test the sugar level after 1 hour when i finish the drink, and one more test after another hour.

Unfortunately, while I pass the first and the 3rd test sugar level, I fail the second test by 0.5. The max limit was 10 but after drinking this orange drink and test after 1 hour, my sugar level was 10.5. I suspect that I might have gone back before the 1 hour time range. So my gynae told me because i fail the test so i have to go back home, choose any 2 days and do the glucose test myself for 2 consecutive days which means i have to prick myself daily for 7 time. Before breakfast 2 hour, after breakfast hour, and so on for lunch, dinner till bedtime. They give me a sheet to record down the sugar level and to email them the result after i completed the test for two days.

I knew my sugar level won't be that high, most of the time, it is within their recommended sugar level. So i was cleared after i submit the result to them. I couldn't imagine if i fail and have to take the reading daily. Thank god. Haha

When i was in my 2nd trimester, my mum will go to the chinese medical hall to grab some chinese medicine which is called the 十三太保. Usually consume when you are in the 2nd trimester, and take once a month. Anyway it's bitter and i hate to take it so drinking once a month is enough, i start taking it on 1st June, follow by 1st Jul and last one on 1st Aug.

Another type of chinese herbs to take after post birth is 冬虫草 which is called the cordyceps, which is known for benefits

During this 9-10months of pregnancy, i started to buy stuffs for baby month by month so that i won't overspend, and i will only buy what i think is essential. When i scroll my instagram stories, i see some of my friends have this brand 'Baa Baa sheepz' pillows, romper, blanket so i went to google and apparently it is very popular among mummies because the material is soft. So i went to purchase the mini size pillow and the big one. 

As my mum will be doing my confinement for me after i gave birth, so we needed to buy a bed for baby at her place and our place when baby return back home.

Initially i wanted to put this bassinet at my own place and get the baby cot deliver to my mum house but she say this will do so eventually i put this at her place while i bought the baby cot to be delivered to my house.

As first time parents to be, i think for many its normal to feel a little overly excited as you want to get the best for your child, i remember initially i wanted to get a baby cot that cost $1k plus, the baby cot can be converted when the baby grow bigger and eventually into a playpen or desk so i thought this will be v practical.

However Jeremy told me from some of his friends sharing, we don't really need to buy a expensive one since they tend to grow up fast and even though it's convertible but eventually if the baby grow too fast, the baby cot might not be suitable for the baby to sleep anymore which is true because i didn't thought of it before. Eventually i started to research and found a more budget friendly yet it is also a 5 in 1 convertible baby cot. We went to the Jarrons & Co warehouse to take a look before making the full payment but to get them delivered around Aug.

This baby cot plus the bedding set, mattress, inclusive of installation and delivery only cost about $337 which i think is a pretty decent price since it's all brand new. Of cos if you think this is still expensive, can consider checking the used baby cot on carousell since i saw there are some giving for free or they sell for maybe less than $100? 

For us, we do have plans to have a second kid next time so i think it's still ok for us to spend this $ since this baby cot can still be used for our 2nd baby hopefully next time or i can just sell it away for a lower price on carousell and buy a new one next time. For me, i like to have the baby cot to have wheels so we can move the baby cot around and the baby is within my sight, so even for the bassinet, i make sure i get those that has wheels so it's really convenient to move around. 

I bought this mat initially as i wanted to decorate our baby room, but eventually as the baby room is pretty small so i give up decorating. Haha

Saw this on taobao and tell myself i need to get this because it's so cute! The pillow and the blanket comes as a set!

I think i bought this baby dining chair is too early to purchase, it can be bought at later stage cos newborn won't get to use this until i think at least 4-6months later?

Bought this teethers because it's too cute!

This was an additional extra piece of furniture that i bought to put in my mum house as i use it to store my baby clothes, baby powder, lotions etc. As many told me baby grow very fast so being first time mum, i didn't quite know what is the size of the clothes i should buy, so i went to buy those that he probably can wear only like 4 or 5month later or even older, but luckily we asked from Jeremy friend if he could give us his kids outgrown clothes and they were kind enough to pack so much for us! So thankful for that because they have many baby small size clothes so i didn't have to buy. Haha

We went to look for super single bed frame as we thought in case my mum wants to come over to stay after confinement, since eventually it will be our baby bed. I look through so many different shop and eventually decided on this frame from star living! This is closer to match our house color theme. Haha

For diaper brands, i decided on Rascal & Friends since i saw several of my friends using this brand and so i went to check reviews that many parents are satisfied with this brand as they say this brand of diaper has high absorption rate and baby don't have any diaper rashes after using this diaper. However i was mindful not to over purchase in case this brand is not suitable for my baby, so i only bought 1 carton which i think should be more than enough. I think i am still a very practical mummy or maybe because my baby is a boy so i am more casual about it. Hahaha maybe if it's a baby girl, i will be very different. 

I bought baby detergent, softener and baby wipes when i was nearing my due date.

There was a sale so i bought this rocker too.

As i was doing my research and understand that baby need to do tummy time, so i thought this will be useful to buy when i am going to let him have his tummy time!

I bought this baby balm from A for Apothecary to use for my baby to prevent any diaper rash, apparently this balm has multi function so instead of buying so many different creams for different purposes, this one balm works wonder for everything from cradle cap, dry flaky skin, diaper rash, eczema, bug bites or even as mummy nipple balm. They use natural organic ingredients so its safe and also gentle on baby skin. So i just need one kind of balm will do! haha

I leave the purchase of baby stroller to Jeremy to make him have some involvement since i purchase most of the baby stuffs and he had no idea what to buy etc. He got this maclaren baby stroller but later after purchase we realise this stroller can only be used when baby is 6month old. zz so likely we are getting another one and selling this away.

Anyway this are just some of the items that i have purchase, i bought lots more stuffs but i didn't take photos. Haha i will write in another post things that new parent to be can purchase or to wait till they are born. Especially for stroller and the dining chair, i really think we should buy when baby is born, there is really no rush. Hahaha i shall end this post for now.

Till then!