Week 21-24: It comes and goes September 24, 2007

Now I’m writing from my 3 weeks experience of baby’s movement….I don’t feel baby moves all the time every single day.  No, some day I an feel him, some day I only feel a couple of kicks every couple of hours. But on a good day, my god, the boy can move!

I was panic at first on the day I only felt the light kick but then the baby reassured me on the next day by kicking the hell out of me!

Nothing dramatic at all these weeks apart from seeing his face in 4D scan on the 22weeks. This time we can see him as almost as good as a new born baby’s face. So far, we decide that he’s got my husband’s nose and ears. But he has my cheeks and mouth.  A lazy baby from the scan but seems pretty content and happy enough in there.

I got bitten!! September 5, 2007

Something I don’t really need when I am pregnant….

We just moved to Discover Bay which is an island about 20 minutes by ferry from Hong Kong Island. Everything was great but one thing that we have to beware of, there are lots of mosquito and insects.

I got bitten alive without knowing when I went to sit by the sea and also when I left the windown opened  in the evening ( I love the view too much). They are really itchy and become red and a bit hard afterwards. I am 20 to 21 weeks pregnant and quite concern about using any medication that might harm my baby. But at the same time the itchyness is pretty strong and I can not help but to scratch away all day long.

I went on to Geoexpat website and got several advise as follows;

1. …..You were probably stung by midges, tiny small insects that are sometimes called sandflies but are not. Consult a doctor who will prescribe appropriate anti-histamine tablets and cream…..

2. I’ve been trying a vitamin B6 preventive treatment. It’s not been proven scientifically but I’ve been told if you take your vitamin B every day it changes the smell of your skin (for insects).

3….It sounds as though you have a lot of bites! Are you sure it is not a rash? … if it is, I would see the Dr immediately

4…..tried everything under the sun, the thing that really really works is tape. Just tape over the bite with Sellotape or duct tape. Apparently the tape attracts white blood cells which stop the itching and histamine release. Obviously it stops you scratching too. It sounds bizarre but try it and there are no side effects.

5….someone recommended that I eat an orange a day to counter it and to use Satsuma body butter from Body Shop. Best advice I’ve had coz I’ve not had a single bite since. I still eat an orange a day and use Satsuma body wash and butter.

6. Pure aloe Vera Gel is what we use and its completely natural. You can purchase it from Watsons and Mannings.

7. I was prgenant and in DB I used the citronella stickers from Watsons- I now use them with my ten month old too; they are deet free and natural.

Lullaby Lyrics September 5, 2007

Here are the songs that I found, practiced and memorised today.

Hush, little baby

Hush, little baby, don’t say a word.
Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbirdAnd if that mockingbird won’t sing,
Papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ringAnd if that diamond ring turns brass,
Papa’s gonna buy you a looking glassAnd if that looking glass gets broke,
Papa’s gonna buy you a billy goat

And if that billy goat won’t pull,
Papa’s gonna buy you a cart and bull

And if that cart and bull fall down,
You’ll still be the sweetest little baby in town

Rock a bye baby

Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all

The grand old duke of york

Oh, the grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only half way up,They were neither up nor down.

One Two Three

One, two, three, four, five,
Once I caught a fish alive,
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go again
Why did you let it go?
Because it bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
This little finger on my right. 

Incey wincey spider

The incey-wincey spider
Climbed up the spout
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain
And the incey-wincey spider
Climbed up again

Week 20. new place-new life September 5, 2007

We have now officially moved to Discovery Bay. We found a beautiful apartment with alomost 360 degrees view. It is a little bit stretch in terms of our budget so we decided that this year we will just forget saving money ( we still put aside a certain amount of money for our baby though) and cencentrate on enjoying our little life and our little baby without being a high flyer or eat out every single meal as before. We love this flat that much!

As soon as I moved in I was relax and happy. We have lived in Central Hong Kong last year- it’s time to have a calmer life.  I can eat now and begin to enjoy cooking as I did before I was pregnant.

I have no idea that one of my main reason that I couldn’t eat and not gaining weight during the past 5 months (even though the baby is big- God knows how) was due to the fact that I did not like the environment. We lived in a nice flat but the environment was bad, no view (or te estate agent calls it ‘building view’), bad cooking smell (no offense to our chinese friends).

With our current flat the back of our flat faces the mountain (nothing in between at all), front face the sea (with other buildings in front but we are on tope of the mountain, so nothing obstruct the view to the sea). During the day I can only hear the sound of the waterfall.  This is heaven.

The baby is still alive and kicking. I become less concern and begin to enjoy my pregnancy now. Today I even begin to practice lullaby lyrics and aiming to memorise the lyrics to welcome the birth of our baby. I feel for the first time as a mother when I sang the songs and can begin to imagine myself as a moher now.

But I still don’t want to start buying cot and all that to tempt faith……Old fashion I know.

Korea Trip and panic attack! September 5, 2007

We went to Korea at the beginning of week 19 to see my sister’s family, a short break from busy Hong Kong.  I asked my husband to come along with me on the last minute due to a sudden fear of the repeated experience like when we came back from Bangkok on our summer holiday. It was a big step for me when I went to the toilet after the plane has landed and found that it was no blood this time! None! Hooray!!!

I ate, drank ( non alcoholic drink – mainly water) and be married for 3 days.  We got an early flight back which meant that we had to get up around 6am after went to bed after midnight. I was pretty tired then.

I could not believe it! Our flight was cancled. But thank god they transfer us to Cathay Pacific flight with newer plane, same departure time. So I was alright but feel funny in my stomuch. I went to the toilet several times and began to panic if I was fit enough to fly. I was tired and worried which didn’t help.  It will be a 3 hour flight - didn’t sound too bad on paper.

I decided to go on as it will take as much time to go back in to Seoul.  We boarded the flight and the whole plane was packed.  I began to sweat but tried to calm down. As soon as the plane began to move, I felt like I was gonna faint. It was a tall order to be traped in the air for 3 hours. What do I do, what do I do?!!

My poor husband had to call the flight attendant and asked her if we can move to a better seat. I felt claustophobic and couldn’t breath. Unfortunately all the seats were full, every single one of them. She asked me to make a decision if I would like to go on or get off. But reassure me that as soon as the flight take off, the air condition will be cooler. So I tried to calm down and carried on. I must say they flight attendants were very nice, brought me water and hot towel and tried to calm me down.

Thank god with Cathay Pacific they have good inflight program on personal tv which helped me kill time. I couldn’t be more glad if I tried when we landed. I was still tired though and went to be at 5pm.  That’s a record!

One thing that is hard for me at the moment but I need to try is to make myself accept that I am pregnant. And pregnant women has less energy than normal women. Things I could do easily before became more difficult. I couldn’t skip meal nor over eating and expect to feel alright. I need certain hours of sleep and rest (2 different things may I add).

I’m trying…hard. 

He moves he moves he bangs he bangs September 5, 2007

Week 18-19

One afternoon, I was siting on the sofa with my computer on my lap. Suddenly I felt something flip in my stomuch. No it’s not gas. It was like the sensation of a fish flipping in the  water. I’m not sure why I thought of that but that was the closest feeling I can describe.

I think I knew immediately that it was the first movement of my baby I can feel.  I then sat up straight, took the laptop off my lap and got ready for a proper feel this ime but no it didn’t happen again. I text my husband straight away to tell him the news. He was of course, over the moon.

At night on that day, I felt him again when I laid flat on my back. This time my husband was there and felt my stomuch.  From then onwards, I can pretty much detect his movement.

Just for the record, he wakes up very early around 5-6am. then back to sleep. And woke up again between 11am. And agan around 2-3pm. Then woke up again around 5-6pm. and again around midnight.

We went for another ulrasounds and saw his legs which are pretty long and lean. He’s got my head profile and moves around pretty much. His fatty little body measured around 19.5 weeks old (we were only week 18 at the time). and had long fingers and beautiful hands that my ob recognised. His feet are 2.8cm. Big enough to make a point and kick his mummy!

Beautiful!