I seriously think I am.

For the past few nights, I’ve been waking up for toilet trips in the middle of the night, and the first thought that came to my mind when I woke up would always be, ‘Am I having contractions now??’

Very weird, I know. That’s how I know I am quite mad.

I’ve actually been imagining myself going into labor in the middle of the night, though that ought to be the last thing to happen. Quite frankly, I don’t really know how contractions feel like even though this is my 2nd pregnancy. People have told me that they feel like tightening of the tummy at regular intervals, not necessarily painful, but obvious enough to let you know it’s not regular stomach cramps or aches.

For my first pregnancy, I had induced labor, meaning I practically had no contractions whatsoever, until pretty advanced in my pregnancy, and I had to inject something to induce the labor. Even the machine tells me that there are contractions on-going and at some points pretty strong, I didn’t even feel them. And the cowardly me requested for epidural pretty early so that I can avoid the real pain kicking in. By the time epidural got into my system, I could feel NOTHING already.

And so, I have been thinking that I will not know I am going into labor unless something dramatic happens like, water bag bursts, or if there’s a ‘show’. Haha… But of course, as far as possible, I pray that none of these will happen and I can last till my C-section operation on 21 May with no complications at all.

Yes, we haven’t yet bought the stuffs that Baby Jayne would need, like her milk bottles, bottle tits, pacifiers, bottle detergent etc. We have always been working based on the timeline of 21 May for my C-section, so we have a good whole month to get those things settled.

But yesterday my MIL said something which made us realise that we shouldn’t take things for granted. This is my 2nd pregnancy, and generally 2nd pregnancies are shorter, meaning the baby comes earlier. My C-section is scheduled for 2 weeks before my 40-week full term, which means Baby Jayne is planned to arrive when she’s 38-week-old. That is, however, a best-case-scenario. WHAT IF JAYNE DECIDES TO COME OUT EARLIER?? If my water bag bursts or I start to have contractions before that, I would be caught in a frenzy because no preparations are done yet!

Another implication is of course, if I start to have symptoms of baby coming earlier than planned, then my C-section becomes an emergency C-section. Oh man, in that case, I might try for natural birth then, since it will still be emergency C-section if natural doesn’t work in the end. Sigh, how complicated. I am so not mentally prepared for a natural birth lor! I pray that Baby Jayne will be stable and endure till the schedule C-section date! Please pray for me….

You know, no matter how frustrated Joey makes me at times, I feel all happy again just seeing her enjoying herself and having fun. Kids’ laughs & smiles are so genuine and real, and everytime Joey laughs heartily, I can’t help but feel happy from the inside of me too. I am sure all parents agree with me on this. :)

Today, Joey went to East Coast Park because Papa Isaiah has to play a soccer match.

She was fascinated by the group of people playing on the beach…

 

  In bid to entertain Joey, I let her rent a bicycle to ride. She had fun! =D

Just look at the glee on her face!

She was riding so fast, some of the photos I took were blur! But you can still see how much fun she was having! =D

 

Don’t you feel like laughing along with her? Hahaha..

That’s how heavy Baby Jayne is now! =D

I was kinda worried because at my last gynae visit 2 weeks ago, Baby Jayne was calculated to weigh 1.9kg. Rather small for a 32-week-old foetus. When they plotted her growth graph, I could see that she was slightly below average size. Not good at all.

Thank God when we went for my check-up this morning, Baby Jayne has gained much more and is now exactly the size she should be at 36 weeks. Catching up! My weight has also increased to 59kg, which is good. :) I was afraid that I wasn’t putting on enough weight. I remembered for Joey, I weighed 60+ kg near to delivery time. So when my weight has been climbing very slowly and little this time round, I am really concerned that I was eating enough to provide nutrients for Baby Jayne. Thank God no need to worry anymore! :)

I told Dr Fong today that in the last one week, I’ve got several strangers coming to me and asking me whether I was carrying a boy, because my tummy looked like it. Quite frankly, I encountered so many asking that it got me paranoid - ‘What if it’s a BOY afterall??’ How am I going to adjust myself mentally?? What name to give to a baby boy? Do we have to rush out to buy new clothes suitable for boys?? HOW WAS I GOING TO EXPLAIN TO JOEY THAT IT’S GONNA BE DI DI INSTEAD OF MEI MEI????” All the thoughts freaked me  out.

Dr Fong was amused at my question, ‘Now then you ask me whether I am sure it’s a girl????!!’, then went to take a closer look at my ulltra-sound scan. His conclusion was, ‘You can start collecting bets from your friends. If it’s a boy, I’ll compensate them 10 to 1. Hahahaha..’

Yep, he is THAT sure. kekekeke…

Is this cute or is this cute????

Joey’s soap dispenser! =D

We were in the car this morning on our way to Joey’s school, and I decided to take some photos of Joey. It seems that I’ve been lazier in doing that nowadays. Except for those times we bring her out for excursions, I seldom take day-to-day photographs of Joey now. I better keep it up, in order to capture her ever-changing looks in her growing-up years!

This was the first photo we took.

Obviously the smile looks very forced, as if Mummy is forcing her to comply, so I told her it was not acceptable and she is to SMILE NICELY. The subsequent photos made me LAUGH!

This is what she perceived as ‘SMILE NICELY’???

 

 

What’s with the slanted head & sly smile??

Such a young, pretty & innocent girl tortured by THIS! I can’t believe it!

In-grown Toenail!

 

Can you see that her big toe is swollen??

This is probably clearer:

Brought her to see the doctor yesterday and I learnt for the first time that I should not cut her toenails according to the shape of her toes. Unlike fingernails which we can do that, for toenails, we have to cut one straight line across, even if it means the edges are going to be sharp & pointed. When we try to cut her toenails according to the curved shape of the toes, it increased the chances of in-grown toenails. Of course, other factors may cause the growth as well, like poor-fitting shoes which are too small and caused the nails to grow inwards.

And so, there are gross pus at the corner, and the doctor had initially wanted to poke the infected area to drain off the pus, but seeing that Joey even flinches at a small touch at the toe, he decided that it would not be possible. On the side, he passed me a glance & a needle, and asked me to go home & poke it while Joey is asleep! Gosh. I haven’t found the courage to do it yet.

The throbbing pain kept Joey waking up several times last time. Sigh. I can imagine how painful it must be. :(

I pray, and I pray, that the pus will somehow miraculously dry up by itself today so that I do not need to administer the needle. It would be too cruel.

We don’t even have to teach our kids that, but they already know how to ‘shift’ blame whenever they can.

Or maybe we did teach them that sub-consciously?

We have noticed that ever since Joey learnt the art of arguing & logical debating, she has already learnt that NOTHING that ever went wrong was her fault. It was always SOMEONE ELSE’s fault. Of course, she still boldly admits when she spills a bowl of cereals, mess up the whole living room with her toys or wets the whole floor with water. But when it comes to things that allows her to exhibit her drama queen traits & turn into a pity pie, she will non-hesitantly do it.

Just yesterday she was at home with my MIL and she was climbing up & down the sofa like a monkey again and she (for the first time) fell from the sofa onto the floor! Know what are her first words in the midst of all the crying???

“Nai Nai, why you never come & catch me and just let me fall?????!!!” (faintz)

Joey’s feet has been growing pretty fast, so she outgrows her shoes at amazing rates (very sad for our pockets). So when she gets feet pain after wearing a certain pair of shoes for too long, we will naturally ask her, ‘Is it because the shoes are too small and tight?’ She would then answer,

‘Yes, too small. Because Papa, Mama never buy new shoes for me lor!’ (*%$#^&*@)

Then you might have read from my hubby’s blog that he called home yesterday morning to chit chat with Joey and Joey told him that I cut her toenails too deep the night before and it was very painful for her. She told me the same thing when she called me minutes later, and I actually felt guilty for being careless. When I reached home at night, I realised that Joey has an in-grown toenail, which is causing her big toe to swell! It was so painful for her that she didn’t sleep well the previous night. And she kept harping that it was BECAUSE I cut her nails too deep. Sigh!

Yes Lord, I did pray for a smart kid, but she is WAY TOO SMART FOR ME sometimes. =P

I am now in my 8 month plus of pregnancy, and Baby Jayne is coming very soon.

And so, like my first pregnancy, I am starting to feel big & clumsy by now. My tummy is huge, so I sometimes sway when I walk to balance myself. Not that I can help it, even though I hate behaving like a  pregnant woman. I think pregnant women should still maintain their poise & grace. Haha…

But what to do? Tummy so huge already.

But thank God really, that because Baby Jayne is not as big as Baby Joey’s size, I am not really experiencing backaches or swollen feet as much as my first pregnancy. Up till now, I’ve not really experienced any serious backaches. My feet still look normal in size too. Another reason could also be that I didn’t walk as much this time round compared to the first one. My hubby pretty much fetched me everywhere I went. Thank God for Isaiah!

I am getting impatient though. Hoping to see Baby Jayne soon. Perhaps because this is my Number 2, I feel a lot more confident about it. At least I know what to expect and am mentally prepared about how tough it would be. Then again, I never know for sure until Baby Jayne really comes. Haha!

What am I looking forward to now?

My LAST DAY OF WORK on Friday, 15 May! wahahahahaha… Before I go for my operation, I will go trim my hair & eyebrows, do my facials and rest alot, alot! =D

Joey now sleeps on her own bed in her grandma’s bedroom, in preparation for Jayne’s arrival. Got to keep the 2 kids sleeping in 2 separate rooms so that they don’t wake up each other. It would be disastrous if Jayne wakes up for her night feed and Joey wakes up crying as well!

So, last night, Joey was getting ready for bed, and suddenly got fascinated by shadows. Made me play with her for a while (you know those stuffs about making shadows of dogs & birds using your hand to cast the shadows on the wall), then insisted that I lie down with her to sleep.

I wanted her to learn sleeping on her own, so I told her that my stomach doesn’t feel very comfortable and it was a little painful (I think indigestion or something), hoping that she would understand and let me go back to my room to rest while she sleeps on her own.

Who knows, she started dishing out ‘solutions’ to my problems.

First, she went to fetch the Ruyi oil, and insisted on applying onto my tummy to drive away the pain (like I always do for her when she complains of stomach pain).

Then when I tried to explain to her that Ruyi oil is only for her and Mei Mei Jayne next time, she went on and on about how her Nai Nai also had stomachache the other time, and she too helped her apply the Ruyi oil and then she felt better. She ended the explanation by stating clearly that, ‘So Ruyi oil is for Joey, Jayne & Nai Nai.’

How politically correct.

Then she told me I should use a blanket to cover my tummy area (like i always told her too) so that it can keep that area warm and my stomach will feel better. By now, I was really hoping to go back to my room to rest… (very bad & un-motherly, I know).

I told you Joey has got a strong maternity side of her.

Finally, 2 weeks after Joey’s actual birthday, we had the final installment of her celebration today!

It was a six-car expedition to Kranji Countryside! Check out the decal pasted on every one of the six cars. :) A tad too small as it’s my first time doing it. Will make it double bigger if I’m ever doing it again. :)

It was a super hot Saturday morning!!!

945am: Set off! Six cars in all!

Our 1st stop was to the Hay Dairies Goat Farm!

With Papa Isaiah

With Shu Shu David

Baby Nigel was on the expedition as well!

Purchased several bottles of goat’s milk for the friends to try. :)

Our next stop after leaving the goat farm was to the Hausmann Fish Farm!

The friends tried fish spa, while Joey went longkang fishing! (She was terrified to see fishes ‘chewing’ on Papa Isaiah’s feet!) wahahahaha…

Ekkkkksssssssss!!!

  The longkang here are much cleaner than those at Bottle Tree Park! BUT she refused to step into the longkang because of what she witnessed at the fish spa! Hahaha.. she didn’t want fishes chewing on her feet!

 

 

 

As the longkang fishes cannot be brought home, she was given in exchange, 2 goldfishes in a small tank and some fish feed. Not bad for $6 ya? Can play and can bring home. :)

Then she fed the fishes… the fishes were HUNGRY, scrambling for the food and it made Joey very excited!

Next, we moved on to our final destination for lunch & cake-cutting! In our own air-conditioned private dining room!

Joey and I were exhausted by now…. So glad to be able to sit and rest in an air-conditioned room… :)

Joey, who couldn’t sit still, started to ‘terrorize’ Baby Nigel. Haha..  

 

 

 

 

Then Baby Nigel decided to ‘take revenge’.. Wahahahahaha…

 

Our lunch finally came!

 

 

Finale cake-cutting! Joey was so coy when we sang the Happy Birthday song!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to Joey for stepping into her 3rd year of glorious living! =D May Joey be happier and happier with each passing year!