Joey has been kicking and moving really vigorously these past few days. So hard that I can feel her constantly. There were even some kicks that were painful because they were just so hard. And she's constantly moving her legs and adjusting her position since it's getting tighter inside. And there were many times when she would straighten her legs & just stick it at one side. When I touch that part of my tummy, it would so hard cos she's sticking her leg there. I guess it's only normal since she is now 30 weeks old in my tummy. In another 8 or 9 weeks, she's be seeing this beautiful world!

I can't wait to see my beautiful daughter! Time really flies so quickly that I almost can't believe it! It's been 7 & a half months now, but it definitely doesn't feel that long. I was telling Dear the other day that I will surely miss the feeling of Joey kicking and moving inside of me after she's born. Kind of got used to that feeling by now. : )

But of course, the plus point is I will be holding her in my arms! It will surely feel very unreal, and I am sure I need some getting used to. I am not sure if I am psychologically prepared that I am a mother, because so far, I only just feel that I have a big tummy, that's all. Haha..

I think I haven't watched a movie in a long time. Today I went to catch a movie with my parents & Dear - the Jet Li movie. It was a great movie, but I was really fidgeting most of the time because the seats were way too small to feel comfortable for me! I really don't know where to leave my tummy & arms! Cos i can't really cross my arms now as the tummy is in the way, so the only way is to leave them by my side, but I would be trespassing into other people's seat space. So, it's really quite uncomfortable!

2 more months... just 2 more months....

Dear Uncles & Aunties:

The Lunar New Year is finally here. This is going to be the first & only Lunar New Year that I am going to spend inside Mummy's tummy, so I am very excited about it.

I am sure you all know by now, since you are all at least 20 years older than me, that New Year's the time to give ang pows to kids. I am very much a kid right now, and I am sure I qualify for your ang pows. Please do not be stingy and think that you can start giving me only after I am born sometime in April. Because in the eyes of God and the law of Singapore, I am very much a human being & a downright Singaporean already.

You may wish to enclose your cheque (Please make it payable to Isaiah Kuan Kar Keong or Klessis Lee Phei Ching) or simply put stacks of cash (Please ensure legal tender) inside the ang pows and either send it by post or by hand to my house at Sembawang. If you hand the ang pow personally to either my daddy or my mummy, you may place your hand on mummy's stomach so that I can give you a cheerful kick to tell you how much I appreciate & thank you.

Thank you very much for your generosity. I am sure God will bless you abundantly and you will become so prosperous that my ang pow next year will be double.

I love you all & Have a happy new year! *smiles*

Love,
Joey

Joey has become so active nowadays. Dear Dear said she has become much stronger now compared to a few weeks ago. I believe so too, cos her movements are amazing! I spent a few hours watching my tummy in amazement last night. Her movements were so vigorous that my entire tummy will shift from right to the left and right again. I am not joking! Maybe she was moving her legs across my tummy, and the whole tummy moved along with it!

I quickly asked Dear Dear to watch with me too, and I think he managed to catch an episode of it. On my tummy surface, you could see this bump (likely to be her foot) move from one side to the other side. So amazing!!! Now it has become my favorite past time to watch my tummy because Joey is constantly moving, shifting & rotating! Hee..

I feel happy too, cos it shows that Joey is gaining strength and making good progress. A strong baby is always better than a weak one! : )

Joey, Mummy dreamt about you last night. I have been asking God to let me dream of you so that I would know what you look like. I hope it was really God answering my prayers because you really look like an adorable little girl in my dream. : )

I can't really remember what you look like now. But I do remember you have big round black eyes. In all, you are a really beautiful girl. Looks very much like mummy. Hahaha... I dreamt of Uncle Nigel trying to carry you, and I had to chide him for being so rough when carrying you.

Not the whole dream was so sweet though. I also dreamt about my tummy actually (scary). It still looks quite big, like when I was still 4 or 5 months' pregnant with you. I guess it will take some time before my tummy really slim down. : ) But never mind, I shall have faith to believe that I can regain my figure back very soon. hee..

Yixuan, now papa wants to educate you on a very important lesson for you in your years to come. You will be known as the loyal Reds' girl forever. Just like your papa, you will join millions of people around the world in support of the ONLY football team worthy of all these fuss: Liverpool!!!

Right now, as pap is writing to you this letter, I'm watching the most important game Liverpool will ever have, against Man U. (just remember they are the red devils, so we need to cast out the devil and make them just Reds) To be honest with you, no other games is more crucial than winning Man U. Even in the end we do not win the Champion, it will be good enough to know we won them. Okay?

Papa loves you....looking forward to watch our great team play and win with you. You must keep most of your saturdays and sundays night free...

These past few days, I have gotten fat feet. All because of water retention in my body. I realised that I have been going to the toilet less frequently now. I used to go very frequently in the first 2 trimesters. So the water are really being retained in my body and they found their way to my feet.

Meiling said yesterday that my feet looked big. I looked down at them & indeed they were fat. The toes look so weird! Hmm.. I think maybe I should put my legs up as best as I can these few days. Yeh, I know it's only common for water retention, especially now when I am getting really heavy. Nowadays, when I walk, I really feel that my feet are so poor thing. They had to bear this kind of weight.

Pastor commented yesterday too that my stomach looked so round & big, yet I have such small feet, not proportionate. Haha.. Maybe I should bring my feet for some foot massage after I give birth to pamper them a little & to thank them for the hard work they've put in for the past 10 months. Ha!

Today we went to see Dr Chew again. It was a really short checkup, she only scanned Joey's head and took the measurements and said we could leave and from now on, see her every 2 weeks since I am in my final trimester already.

Dr Chew commented that Joey has got a big & round head! I saw her head from the scanner, and it's really very round! haha.. According to her, Joey's head is one week bigger than scheduled according to my EDD, but it's nothing to be concerned about because Asian babies tend to have bigger heads. Makes me bewildered. How come asian babies have bigger heads???

Anyway, from my last visit 3 weeks ago, I put on another 3+ kg, and Joey now weighs 1.25kg, slightly heavier than what Dr Chew projected. But I am barely halfway there yet. When Joey is born, she is likely to be over 3kg, so I still have quite alot more weight to put on in this final trimester. Hmm.. how would I be able to fit into my clothes anymore??

dear joey, these past few days many uncles and aunties had come to papa and asked what do you need and what do you want. they all want to buy something for you. you are so famous. even papa didn't have so many people giving me gifts lei...

so, what do you want or need? why don't you tell me now so that i know how to answer to all your blessing angels? maybe an ipod? a new guitar? a nikon d70 digital camera? a car? a vacation? opps, all these are papa's wish list.... :P

anyway, to all our friends out there. thanks for your generous actions and thoughts. be sure that once kless and i knows what do we really need, we will send you our shopping list. thanks in advance.

bur bur de de bu bu di di (joey's way of saying 'thank you very much')

Dear Joey

In a couple of days' time, you will be 7 months' old in mama's womb. I think it is time I write to you because I believe you would have a clear understanding of all the thoughts that go through my mind as I write this letter.

Today, Pastor Kong spoke about something I thought you might be interested to know. I am not sure if you understood everything Pastor talked about today, since you are now only learning to grasp with papa's charming voice.

Pastor told us that you were already in the mind of God, before papa and mama even met! Oh.. yes, I know.. so romantic right? Mama also thinks so. Even before I met your papa, God already knows we'll meet, fall in love, get married and have you as our first daughter. You already existed in the vast imagination of God and He has got all your destiny and paths planned properly. I am as excited as you to see what great plans God has in-store for you. The first thing you've done was to bring great joy to papa and mama. That's really a good thing you've done even before you were born, you know? : )

I love you, baby. You've been a very good and obedient girl in the past 7 months. Never giving mama any problems, morning sickness or discomfort. Even your kicks are ever so gentle and light. Sure there were a few times I got taken by surprise by some huge kicks, but on the whole, you have been a very sensitive & considerate baby, knowing that mama got many things to do and need to concentrate as much as I can.

I believe in the power of confession, just like what I read from the book "Supernatural Childbirth". And I want to confess the following things about you everyday, until you come to this world:

• Eyes: Vision, be perfect. Big, round and sparkling eyes.
• Ears: Hear perfectly.
• Skin: Complexion, be good and flawless.
• Teeth: Form perfectly, be strong and not prone to cavities.
• Bones: Be strong, healthy, straight, none broken.
• Heart: Be strong, healthy, untroubled.
• Respiratory system: Be healthy and strong lungs and bronchial passages; no sinus problems, hay fever, bronchities.
• Blood: Be normal, healthy. Maintain proper blood sugar; no pollution in the blood.
• Digestive system: Function normally.
• Position of baby & cord: Joey, be head down and in perfect position at birth. Cord, be perfect length and position, not around Joey's neck.
• Temperament: Be full of peace - a calm, sweet spirit and a tender heart.
• Sleeping habits: Joey, you will sleep at night; you will get plenty of rest & let papa & mama rest too.
• Joey's spirit: You will be tender toward God and the things of God; saved at an early age.

Papa and mama will pray for you everyday. I believe your uncles & ah yees will also keep you in prayers. Keep growing healthily and get stronger each day.

Oh, by the way, you might be happy to know that we will be shopping for the things you need soon. It'll not be long before we will meet, so in the meantime, keep growing till full term. It's going to be another exciting journey after that.

Love,

Mama

Dear Dear is turning mad. Today he suddenly turned to me and made a really weird comment, "I can't believe you are pregnant, dear." Hilarious. Then he went on and on about how we were just paktoring, and in a twinkling of an eye, we are married & our Joey is on her way in 3 months' time! Oh my. Is he too stressed or what??!

Well, maybe I cannot blame him. Even now, I don't really have this sure feeling that I am married & going to be a mother soon. I remembered spending much time during the first year of our marriage wondering to myself, how come I forget sometimes that I am married huh?? It's really weird.

Anyway, today is my first day back at work. It sure feels weird seeing my super messy table once again! Although many of the staff are still on leave & overseas, there's really dozens of things to do the moment I stepped into the office. And it's especially tough today because the left side of my back still hurts. I am beginning to wonder if I sprained it or something. It's so bad that I can't really move my upper body too much & I can't turn at all.

But apparently, there was a whole 10 minutes today that the pain was completely gone. Then it came back again. So, I am starting to think that perhaps Joey was resting on my left side, that's why the pressure is causing the pain. Or maybe she's doing the major migration to head downwards these few days. Cause she seemed to be moving all the time today, and most are very vigorous actions!

Or don't tell me she's decided to pick up kickboxing?!

I had a late lunch today, in fact I ate my first meal of the day at 4pm. I felt so guilty that I was starving not only myself, but Joey as well, that i almost cried. Pregnant women are more emotional of course, but it was the first time I felt that I did not do my part as a good mummy. And the whole time, Joey was kicking & kicking non stop, as if telling me she's very very hungry. Sigh. Bad mama.

These few days, I've been feeling rather conscious about the fact that I haven't been taking good care of Joey. She can't do anything to be more healthy. Only I can influence her health. That is why I decided to cook cauliflower the other day at home, so that I can give Joey more nutrients. Cauliflowers are best because my gynae, apart from telling me to drink milk, eat cheese & ice cream, told me to eat cauliflowers. So, I'm sure it's very good for Joey.

Dear Dear & many other people have been chiding me for not drinking milk for the sake of Joey. Sigh, but I hate milk! I feel like puking if I drink milk! I don't even drink much milk when I was growing up, and I remembered clearly puking my lungs out when I accidentally put some milk powder into my mouth when I was 4 years old. So, maybe I should eat more ice cream to make up for this loss. Hee.. Maybe I should just go & buy some Ben & Jerry ice cream later. (hmm.. joey just gave me a small kick upon hearing that thought.. maybe she's craving for some too.)

this is a blog written on behalf of Joey to her Daddy (that's me!)

papa, i heard her voice today. i really heard her. her voice is exactly the way you described to me. even her feel is the same. i think i can definitely recognised her when i am born. don't worry papa, i will surely be on your side forever. your vision is my vision. your destiny is my destiny. i will do my best to help you fulfill whatever plans you have. i love you daddy. meiting ah yee, i love you too, but i love my daddy more. :p

today, i felt uncle nigel placed his big hand on mummy's stomach. i gave him a kick, wanted to tell him that i know who he is. i am so blessed. everyone of mummy and papa's friends are so nice to me. whenever mummy meets her friends, i can hear them say they will sayang me when i am born. all of you must keep your promises to mummy or papa. i will hols you all responsible.

recently, mummy likes to eat steamboat. i had steamboat twice in a matter of 10 days. but nevermind, as long as mummy likes, i like too.

mummy. take care of yourself. i know you had been very tired taking care of me and carrying me around everywhere for the past 6 months. if you feel tired or backache, remember to ask papa for a massage. he told me he will massage you. i will be praying for you too inside here. can't wait to come into this world and see you soon (of course to see papa too).

Sigh.. the pain on the left side of my back is really annoying! I don't think Joey has grown that much, but now I am feeling the weight on my back. The pain & ache has been there since yesterday. Is it the way I sit or the position I stand?? Hmm.. I really don't know, but I just pray & hope that the pain will go away soon.

I wonder if Joey has turned 180 degrees to face head down yet? Today, I watched a video clip of a woman delivering her baby. Although it looks quite grotesque, she didn't really look that painful, and the delivery took place within a few seconds. The head came out first, then the shoulders (which is supposedly the most painful part) and then the rest of the body.

I wonder how my delivery will be like. It's kind of scary, knowing that my threshold of pain is so low, & some people have been telling me to just endure it through without any epidural. It gets frustrating sometimes when people who have gone through this themselves keep telling me not to take epidural because if they can endure, surely I can endure?! But different woman different, right??

Though I would very much like to believe for a supernatural birth where pain is little & no epidural is needed, I don't like to be pressed and told that I should not use epidural at all and that I should just endure it through. Surely I can decide for myself?? On the other hand, my gynae has been fully encouraging me to use epidural because of the many benefits. Hmm..

Maybe I shall decide when the contractions come. Then, I can know how much I can take then.. : )

People say that the 1st trimester is often the most difficult period for pregnant women because all the puking, nauseousness, tiredness, etc will take up every second of everyday life. The 2nd trimester is supposed to be the most comfortable time, because the stomach is not too huge yet, and the early symptoms have all left, leaving the mummy-to-be to really start enjoying her pregnancy. Moving into the 3rd trimester, the pregnant woman will start to suffer again from the heaviness of the baby because here's when the baby will grow at exponential speed. Backaches, insomnia due to the huge tummy, frequent trips to the toilet, etc. I am now in that stage.

Well, it's not as bad as I imagined it to be though. The heaviness and burden is starting to take its toil on me. I can start to feel it when my back aches now, and when I walk, I really feel heavier with every step I take. Sleeping positions are not as comfortable now that the tummy seems to get in the way every where i turn.

Not to mention the weird feeling in my gastric now & then. It's not exactly pain, but I feel as if the whole gastric is just twisting & turning & somersaulting. It's really hard to explain that feeling. I sometimes wonder if it's Joey trying to poke her head upwards causing the tightness I feel in the area just above my tummy, around the gastric area.

I wonder what position Joey is in now? The last time we saw her in the ultrasound, she was still sitting upright, same position as I am. But Dr Chew said she will soon turn 180 degrees with her head downwards, to prepare herself for the delivery. For some reasons, some babies will never turn downwards though, & Dr Chew said there may be many reasons why it may happen. If Joey has already turned, then it would be her legs that's kicking at my gastric. : )

According to this professional baby website I have been consulting every now & then, Joey has started to recognise papa's voice at this stage. Sorry to all the other uncles & ah-yees who have been trying to talk to her through my belly-buttons, she really just treats them as noise for the time being. Haha.. So, I have been threatening Isaiah not to say anything unkind to me, otherwise Joey will hear it and when she grows up, she may kick him to the old folks home. Hahahaha... but of course that won't happen lah, the first thing I must teach her is filial piety - to pave the way for my retirement. Haha!

That's my baby girl's chinese name. really suprised to hear from klessis that she started a blog for 以 旋. as the father of 以 旋, i am definitely going to write something on my baby's blog.

recently, me and kless have been asking 以 旋 for her opinions on certain things. for example, i wanted to go to sentosa and kless is not so keen, so in the end i decided to ask 以 旋 for a final decision. i placed my hand on klessis's tummy and asked 以 旋 to kick once if she feels like going to sentosa too & if she doesn't feel like going, then kick 50 times non-stop. of course in the end 以 旋 agreed to go. haha.... (kless is using the same method to get what she wants too)

anyway, 以 旋 is really having lots of attention even before she is birthed. so fun.

my first blog for 以 旋:

以 旋, papa loves you very much. you will become the 3rd woman in my life that i treasure the most (after mama and your grandmother) when you grow up, remember to love God even more. be a God-fearing person and all your days will be blessed.

why are you named 以 旋? because papa hopes that you can be talented in the musical area, thus 旋 (music is a good tool to train a person to think calmly and also music is a powerful tool to preach the gospel. music is also both quiet and active, just like music can help a person to calm down but music can also stir up the fighting spirit of the soldiers) papa also wants you to be in God's presence all your life, thus 以 (以马内利) so in future, if people ask you why 以 旋, you will be able to answer them with confidence ok?

So, how did the name 'Joey' come about?

Frankly speaking, there's no real meaning or reason for the name. Isaiah & I just wanted to choose a name that starts with 'J' because it happens to be the alphabet in-between Isaiah & Klessis. And it so happens that the name just pop into my head one fine day & I asked Isaiah if he liked it. The rest is history. : )

I personally like names which are unisex.. for example shaun, joey.. I think it exudes character. : ) And when we decided on the name, it felt more & more right each time we talk about it. I really hope Joey will like her name.

Her grandma bought her a wooden plaque which carries her name & the meaning of her name.

Joey means 'God is gracious' and it's really the female version of the name Joseph. Like Joseph, I believe Joey will be a woman of God highly favoured by God, and that in the midst of life's difficulties & trials, she will emerge strong and victorious with a heart of compassion & love.

Oh well, Joey deserves a blog all for herself! If I have the stamina, I might be able to maintain this blog till she's old enough to start writing and keeping it herself. : ) What an ambition! haha..

Anyway, this is a place where I will pen down her movements and her developments from now onwards. I am in the beginning of my 3rd trimester (6 months & 2 weeks!) and things will move real fast from now on. I am looking forward to the day that Joey finally comes to the world. Motherhood is really exciting!

I still remember Pst Kong said before that motherhood is the highest calling of a woman. Hmm.. I can slowly appreciate that now. : )