Ain't she pretty?

After months of anticipation, we finally found out Junior's sex yesterday and were over the moon to find out 'he' was a she! I say 'he' because all along, I had been convincing myself it was going to be a boy, to mentally prepare myself because we were hoping for a girl and didn't want to be too disappointed when the sex was confirmed. No offence to boys, but they're just not the same when it comes to dressing up!!!

So yesterday at the ultrasound room in KK, a nice lady did the 20 weeks detailed scan and measured Junior's head, brain, spine, torso etc. Everything's just fine, by the way. She did not volunteer information on the sex till I asked and very matter of factly said, "It's a girl." I went, "Hhhhh!" and asked if she was sure and she showed us the screen and said, "Yes, these are the legs and there is definitely no penis!" I was so excited I wanted to jump off the bed and after that, I couldn't stop grinning. Actually come to think of it, I did jump up and down and did a little jig after we exited the room! This is the latest scan, she's got such a defined nose!

Let the shopping begin...

It's a...

Recipe: Summer Fruit Cocktail

The only thing I contributed to last night's dinner was dessert. Saw lots of lovely fruits in the market and decided to make a fruit cocktail. Of course, I ate quite a bit of the fruits as I was chopping them up...esp the watermelon and mango...

Summer Fruit Cocktail

6 sugar plums, seeds removed and diced into cubes
1 mango, diced into cubes
2 kiwis, diced into triangles
¼ a watermelon, diced into cubes
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of ½ a lime
1½ tsp of honey
1 tsp of sugar
Approximately 150 ml of Ceres’ Whispers of Summer blended juice
6 ice cubes

1. Place the cut fruits in a large bowl.
2. Mix the orange juice, lime juice, honey and sugar in a glass before pouring over the fruits.
3. Top up the liquid in the bowl with the Whispers of Summer fruit juice, till ½ of the fruits are covered, then add the ice cubes.
4. Gently toss/stir the fruits till they are all mixed.
5. Chill the mixture for 1 hour before serving.
   
   Serves 10.
   
   

Recipe: Chicken Soup

This is one of my favourites, perfect for when one is sick and looking for comfort food...

Chicken Soup

¾ a chicken, cut into 12 – 16 small pieces and marinated with a dash of pepper
1 small can of button mushrooms
½ a carrot, sliced into rounds
1 large potato, cubed
1 sprig of Chinese celery leaf, cut into 6 cm strips
1 sprig of spring onion, cut into 6 cm strips
1 large onion, sliced
1 – 1.5 litre of water
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch knob of ginger, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cube of chicken stock

Garnish: spring onion, fried onions and Chinese parsley, chopped finely

1. Boil the water in a large pot and add the garlic, ginger, mushrooms, onions, celery and spring onion and let it simmer for a few minutes.
2. Add the potatoes, and after 5 mins, add the carrots.
3. When the potatoes are half-cooked, add the chicken pieces and simmer for about 10 mins.
4. Taste the soup, and add salt and pepper according to your taste and a cube of chicken stock for extra flavour. Turn off stove after cube has dissolved, garnish before serving.
   
   Serves 8.
   

Recipe: Tapyu Bak (or Pork with Dark Soya Sauce)

Well, it's been a couple of years since I drew up a list of dishes to learn from Ma and I've finally started on lessons. The in-laws came over for dinner yesterday and I wanted the food to be home-cooked, but not ang moh-fied...so mummy came to the rescue and in the process I picked up her recipes for Tapyu Bak and Chicken Soup. Am gonna start posting what I learn from now on, so here is the first of the lot - Tapyu Bak, which is pork in dark soya sauce.

Tapyu Bak (or Pork with Dark Soya Sauce)

800 gm – 1kg of lean pork meat, cut into 4-5 cm squares
3 cloves of garlic, minced
½ a cinnamon stick
2 star anise
100 – 150 ml of dark soya sauce
250 – 300 ml of water
6 pcs of taupok, cut into half
Pepper to taste
2 – 3 tbsp of sugar
4 hard boiled eggs (optional)

1. In a small pot, bring water to a boil, then add cinnamon stick, star anise, garlic and pork. Simmer for about 10 mins, then add a dash of pepper.
2. Next add the dark soya sauce. Actual amount depends on water level and how opaque you want the stock to be. Simmer for an additional hour before adding sugar, and more garlic if desired.
3. Taste and add more water/soya sauce and/or sugar if necessary, the stock should be salty but not overly so.
4. Finally, add the taupok pieces and/or hard boiled eggs and simmer for another 5 mins before taking off the stove.
   
   Serves 6.
   

So far, so good

Let's see, it's been a while since I announced the pregnancy on this blog and there've been plenty of developments since.

Am now around 18 weeks, reaching the halfway mark. We still don't know if it's a boy or girl yet, the little bugger was shy at the last scan a couple of weeks ago. The pregnancy has been mostly uneventful - no morning sickness, no unreasonable cravings in the middle of the night, no pain, no emotional outbursts etc. Must say Junior has been behaving very well. Yup, that's the nickname for now - Junior. Am convinced it's gonna be a boy, it's just a hunch.

I'm steadily gaining weight, the bump is obvious now. I eat like there's no tomorrow, in fact I get hungry every couple of hours or so and always keep a snack handy.

The family are thrilled about the upcoming addition, especially the mum-in-law who has been waiting ages for this to happen. We moved house from Ang Mo Kio to Spottiswoode on 4 Aug 07, and shortly thereafter, we broke the news to immediate family. Kevin actually found out by accident on 5 Aug when he stumbled onto an ultrasound image that fell out from a book I was reading, his eyes nearly popped out when he realised what he was looking at. 10 seconds after that, I confessed to Swana and she was stunned! In the days that followed, we told the mums and the pops, and the aunts and the cousins. Everyone was pleased suffice it to say.

I was actually bumming that whole week after moving house as I was in between jobs. After 5 months, I left the Sports Council and accepted an offer from a UK banking software and made a career switch to become a PA... I think it suits me.

Anyways, the past few months have personally been quite eventful - new house, new job and baby on the way. Life is good at the moment, so good, that sometimes I feel like pinching myself. I think that Junior brought me luck, cos' the tide's changed ever since conceiving...if that's the case, I think I should go buy some 4D!!

Life will never be the same again

It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but believe it or not, I’m preggers.

Have been feeling wonky for more than a week, food tastes bland, stomach crampy, body warm, and the occasional bout of nausea when moving in a car on an empty stomach. I thought I have having extended PMS symptoms, but it wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago that I noticed feeling different.

There’ve been a couple of paranoid, false alarm episodes before in the last couple of years but I had a hunch that it might be the real thing this time. I am on the verge of accepting a new job offer and in all fairness to the employer, I couldn’t accept until I knew for sure.

So, last Thursday (28 June 07), armed with the test kit Swana purchased for me while we were shopping at Bugis, I snuck into the loo at home and peed on a stick. My heart was pounding and my legs felt like jelly, I kept reading the instructions to make sure I did it right. Within a minute, the indicator on the stick started to change…and sure enough, there were two blue lines. One was fainter than the other, but there were definitely two lines. That meant, positive.

Yipes! I immediately went back to the room and told Nick. He laughed. He couldn’t quite believe it, and wanted to wait for a proper confirmation from a doctor as the second blue line looked faint to him. I took pictures nonetheless for posterity.

Swana actually called that night to ask the result, and I had to deny it because she can be a blabbermouth..(sorry, Swana!). Had agreed with Nick that we will announce it when ready, probably towards the end of the first trimester.

Nick left for Penang the next morning, and I couldn’t wait to get a proper confirmation. I called the KK Women’s Clinic hotline in the afternoon and made an appointment with a consultant at the AMK clinic after work.

Waited ages for my turn, and finally got to meet Dr Anthony Seow, the consultant I was assigned. He seemed pleasant and I showed him the pictures I took on my digital camera. He asked some questions and concluded that if anything, I was about 6 weeks along. He wouldn’t know for sure without a scan, so we did an ultrasound.

He could detect an embryo and showed me the waterbag forming but to be even more accurate, he used an invasive ultrasound scope to take some measurements and check for a heartbeat. And there was this tiny thing on the screen, you could see something beating. Apparently the embryo is about 4 mm now. EDD is 18 or 19 Feb 2008, that’s not very far away.

I called Nick immediately after leaving the clinic and gave him the confirmation he sought. Again he laughed, he’s definitely pleased and excited.

It’s been 3 days since finding out. I am surprisingly calm, it’s all so surreal. It was definitely not planned, but it had to happen sooner or later. My only regret is that I did not get to go to Greece first but am glad that we will have our place soon. And I can look forward to a whole new wardrobe.

Our lives will never be the same again…I can’t believe this is happening!!!!! Ohmigod!!!!!!!!!!