The third trimester...ugh

I knew it was too good to be true, it was just the calm before the storm. While I breezed through the first and second trimesters without any adverse symptoms like morning sickness etc, the third trimester is turning out to be a party pooper.

Up till early last week, I was still feeling fine and dandy and then now it's all going downhill. Can't sleep, can't eat and can't breathe!

The occasional bout of breathlessness of the past is nothing compared to the constricting feeling these days of not getting enough air. The slightest task leaves me winded and forget about climbing overhead bridges! And then there are the palpitations!

Over the last weekend, I hardly got any sleep thanks to a potent combination of oily and gassy food. Had gastric pains and abdominal cramps for a couple of days and couldn't find a comfortable sleeping position. I can't lie flat on my back and can't flip from side to side too fast and by the time I wake up from lying on my side all night, my shoulder blades are tense and the back aches.

And acid reflux has decided to put in an appearance. I had read about it and wondered what it felt like...be careful what you wish for, cos' I am now getting a first hand account! Am so afraid to eat because food feels like it's stuck in my chest and about to come back out through my mouth. And I need to learn how to burp on demand!

I just puked out my breakfast and last night's tow huay during lunch at my favourite beef noodle stall! Luckily Nick was around and I had a plastic bag from purchasing a baby dress before lunch, it came in handy - of course Nick removed the dress from the bag first!

But it wasn't a pretty sight and I ruined one of Nick's hankies in the process. I hope the noodle stall patrons weren't too traumatized, thank goodness I was sitting in the back and could make a quick exit to the loo through the storeroom! I felt much better after puking though, and went on to eat a plate of chicken rice!

This couldn't have happened at a worse time cos' tonight we are flying off to Krabi, hope nothing much happens there...I am so looking forward to the break, plus there are 14 of us, guaranteed lots of fun. Shall have to keep the oily pad thais and spicy tom yums to a minimum!

Jane ties the knot!

Today was a special day as my dear friend Jane tied the knot to her man Albert in a solemnization ceremony at Legends Fort Canning, at 8.30 am. Never dreamed this day would happen as Jane was quite the tomboy in school and now she’s all grown up and pretty in pink!

I’ve known Jane for over 12 years, when we were classmates at SHATEC and together with Rena and Germaine, we had a lot of fun in school. When it came to class projects, Jane and Germaine were notorious for always doing something funny and different. I’m glad we’ve stayed friends all these years, witnessing each other’s big days and even welcoming a baby…with one more on the way! Next will be Jane’s turn, after she has the customary wedding of course. Ha ha!

Was pretty surprised to see Jane in a demure pink dress, but she looked really sweet. Before we went up to the function room, Rena was saying she didn’t think Jane would doll herself up too extremely but we were in for a pleasant surprise!

The ceremony itself was pretty chop-chop and over in a matter of minutes and then it was on to the reception. Most of us had to get back to work, so by 9.30 am we made our way out. But before we left, me, Rena and Germaine made Jane open the special pressies we got for her...am sure she and Albert will have lots of fun!

29 weeks and counting

Finally got another view of Junior today, when we went for the routine check-up. According to the doc, am 29 weeks now...I thought I was actually 31. Phew, still got 11 or so weeks to go provided Nutty doesn't spring a surprise.

Swana tagged along today cos' I wasn't sure if Nick was gonna make it in time. The appointment was at 6.45pm but he wanted to get the car first so it was easier to go home after. We figured with the backlog of patients, he would still make it to KK in time for my turn...and he did, just in the 'nick' of time. Apparently he ran from the carpark, people must have thought his wife was already in labour! He had hardly caught his breath when my name was called.

Anyways, everything is normal and progressing well according to Dr Siow, she's a medium-sized baby, not to big, not to small and there's enough amniotic fluid in there, despite me not drinking 8 glasses of water a day! Again she was flashing her butt, but we managed to see her profile and face, which is a little skeletal still. The doc says she's gonna start getting more 'meat' in this current phase but for now skeletal is normal. Check out the latest scans, the face in the one below looks like a cross between Janet Jackson and ET! Sorry Nutty, but mommy loves you anyway!

It's beginning to feel like home...

After 3 months at Spottiswoode, we are finally getting a proper sofa and dining table.

Went hunting this past weekend after scouring the papers for good deals and we wound up at Sungei Kadut and Senoko. Visited 5 or 6 shops including the Barang Barang warehouse sale but in the end, we purchased a reasonably-priced glass table we spotted at Om and ordered an L-shaped sofa at Salsal, a store at the new IFC furniture centre.

Both items should be arriving by end of next week, and all that's left now is choosing chairs for the dining table, some curtains or blinds and the softer furnishings like paintings, lamps, decorative items etc.

Yesterday I also started on decorating the Xmas tree...we have el-cheapo ornaments from Ikea and the colours are silver and gold and we added some red touches. It's beginning to feel like home...

Ho Chi Minh 2007

We're back from Ho Chi Minh! Had a great time catching up with Joanne and shopping up a storm...although, it was more like shopping up a drizzle because Nick hovered at every shop and gave me dirty looks whenever I bought something!

Joanne and Tarek were great hosts and made us feel at home. It was fun playing with Monster and Mini, their dogs, and the house was huge! Once again, I was amazed at the bike traffic on the road and the bargains that could be found. I hardly shopped for myself this trip, hard to gauge what clothes would fit post-maternity so I bought lots of baby girl clothes...Natalie's wardrobe is set!

I think Nick was bored to tears everytime we went shopping, but I made sure I compensated him for it by ensuring he got to see the Cu Chi Tunnels and visit the War Remnants Museum. He even got a bit of footy in on the last day!

Here are the highlights:

DAY 1 - After dumping our bags, we had a superb pho lunch at a place called "No Delicious, No Pay". Lunch was delicious, so we paid! Then we went off to the supermarket to run some errands and popped by Saigon Square where I picked up some kids clothes. Tea was at a Highlands Coffee joint and then we headed back to Jo's to prepare for the house party she was having that night. A bunch of her friends came over and there were lots of laughs when we started playing "I've never..."

DAY 2 - Started the day with lunch at Bun Ta, a hip noodle joint before proceeding to Ben Thanh market. Joanne had a work appointment, so me and Nick browsed through the market and picked up some retro French posters to put up in our balcony. We shared a so da chanh (lime soda) at Highlands Coffee before I found a kids clothes shop at a shopping centre called ITC. Bought quite a few pieces there before we headed to Joanne's regular beauty salon to have a hair wash, manicure, pedicure and foot treatment. All that for S$27! After changing, we followed Tarek to his self-defence class before having dinner at Xu. The fusion food was so-so but the ambience was nice.

DAY 3 - Nick felt under the weather so me and Jo left him at home while we headed to Chinatown. Bought material at the markets then went to Cho Lon, a wholesale market I had visited last year. Found the shop I had bought loads of bags from last year, but due to lack of Dong, had to restrain myself this time! After that, we headed to Saigon Square again and then a late lunch at Highlands. Joanne picked up some birthday presents at a bookshop and I took away food for dinner. Joanne and Tarek were attending 2 parties that night, but with Nick sick, I opted to stay in with him and watch 'Knocked Up' on DVD.

DAY 4 - Off we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels, where Natalie was rattled by a bumpy 90 min car ride to and fro. Nick crawled through the tunnels and played with tanks while I snapped away. Then we headed back to HCM and picked Joanne up for lunch, which was an Italian affair at the Illy Centro cafe next to Caravelle Hotel. Vandana and Nanki joined us midway, but we left earlier to visit the War Remnants Museum, where Nick was like a kid in a candy store, posing with all the tanks and planes. After that, Joanne brought us to her tailor and I made 6 items for $36! Cheap or what? Can't wait to see if they fit! Dinner was a fine dining affair at Hoi An, where we had traditional Vietnamese food, followed by superb chocolate souffles at Underground. We had some drinks and stayed till closing, where the guys bonded over pool.

DAY 5 - The guys headed to the next door recreation club to play indoor soccer, while Jo swam and I read a book. There was drama in store as Joanne received news that morning that both her designer and brother had gotten into accidents, Jason's one happening in Phuket where he had ridden his bike to. He was ok, but needed some treatment but the guy he hit wanted compensation. Over lunch at Pho 2000, she was calling Singapore and Phuket and trying to assist him in any way she could and eventually he managed to sort things out. We said our goodbyes to Tarek who had a darts competition and then headed back to pack and go to the airport. The new airport is quite nice, but I was thwarted when I wanted to buy alcohol cos' they didn't have the Martini Asti sparkly I was looking for, though they had it at arrivals. So I drowned my sorrows in the dinner onboard, which incidentally was one of the yummiest plane meals I've had. Beef stew with mashed potato and zucchini....yum!

Davinia's Wedding

Last night we attended Davinia's wedding at Chijmes Hall...we were so late, almost the last ones to arrive because of the stupid jam down the Chinatown stretch. Took us almost 45 mins to get from home to Chijmes, which would normally take 10 minutes.

When we got there, the couple were just about to make their entrance, so we quickly took our seats. Cousin Tanya and her son Nikhil were at our table, so were Premila and Aaron and Swana and Kevin. Lukey came along and spent the whole night torturing Nikhil...poor boy. A 7 year old being bullied by a 4 year old, because Nikhil was a gentleman and didn't retaliate whenever Luke did something naughty!

Anyways, Davinia was lovely in her wedding gown and subsequent lengha, while Graham was the affable groom. Saw lots of relatives we hadn't seen in a while and some of them were surprised to see me preggers...was fun to see their reactions. Dinner was good and there was dancing after but somehow even though it was a Friday night, people didn't really linger and by 11 something the hall was almost clear. Here are some pix, there rest will be on my Flickr album!

Deepavali 2007

This year's Deepavali was pretty low key, didn't go anywhere except the folks' house for dinner. Spent the whole day at home, tidying up and lazing about.

I made breakfast for us, I swear Nick has it good! There was a cheese, tomato and mushroom omelette, grilled tomato, sausauges, baked beans and toast...we were so full after that that we had a late lunch at 4pm! I wore a new dress, one of my online purchases...felt very Mediterranean.


We went over to the folks' after our 'lunch' and then he left to pick up his mum and run an errand with Swana. It was on his way out of the estate that Pedro got into a little fender bender...his first accident.

Some oncoming Toyota Wish was driving down the middle of a two-way street and didn't stop in time and hit Pedro's bumper. The driver and his passengers were all distracted looking up at some shophouse units, nobody paid attention to the road and then 'bang'! Luckily Nick had stopped, but couldn't horn in time and luckily I wasn't in the car, although it was a low impact thing.

Nobody told me about the accident until Swana got back and I told her, Nick's first thought would have probably been, "F**k, am gonna get a Volvo after this!"...and I was right! He said as he was exchanging particulars with the other driver, he was thinking of continental cars...ha ha.

Anyway, poor Pedro needs to go for a little nip/tuck....