"It is hard to imagine that your baby who started out as two merging cells has grown so big. Your baby is practicing many of the skills that he or she will need after birth. This practice time is important for your baby. Your baby has been busy with reflexes, breathing and even sucking.
This week, your baby weighs in at nearly 450 grams. This is a huge gain from the beginning, when the weight was measured in terms of paper clips! Your baby is also nearly 20 centimetres long. Remember that your baby has a lot of growing up to do before birth." - excerpt from The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion by Robin Elise Weiss with Dr. Marcello Pietrantoni.
More mid mornings and afternoons were spent with my feet higher than my head in bed to reduce swelling. Occasionally, I had to pass on following my parents-in-law to the shops as my feet would be too swollen or I felt tired even after night of sufficient sleep.
Backache seemed to concentrate on the left side of my middle back and after a period of resting, it would go away. As I did not have any blurred vision or headaches, Dr. Haris was not too concerned with pre-eclampsia.
Mama started trying out some confinement food and drinks recipe. We enjoyed making and consuming the staple ginseng chicken soup and red dates tea. It was quite amusing to see a very confused "sinseh" at the medical hall when we purchased the herbs. The sight of two ladies in tudung (one Chinese and one Irish) with a Malay man asking for traditionally chinese herbs must be rare! We did not try all the other confinement recipes that would contract the womb, fearing that I may experience Braxton-Hicks again.
Exercise is important for a healthy pregnancy so I kept to my routine of weeding and gardening whenever the weather permits. Occasionally I would skip it altogether or cut down on the time spent in the garden whenever I felt tired. Posture is important too so I had to practice caution and safety first. Sometimes, I would hear Dada saying "H, you would not be allowed to squat like that in the kampung", reminding me to correct my posture and remain seated on the stool.
Z and I continued singing and conversing with Jr every night; it has become a routine that we look forward to. Jr's movements have became stronger and harder too, pleasing us no end.
**Retrospective Wisdom: The singing and talking to the "cargo" works. When The Little Girl was first born, she recognised Daddy's voice right away during her first azan and salawat!**
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