Retrospective Wisdom: Week 33

"Your baby is growing a lot. Lung development takes the forefront toward the end of pregnancy, and your baby's body is producing something called surfactant. This detergent-like substance helps your baby's lungs stay open once they inflate with his or her first cry. Pre-mature infants are given artificial surfactant if they are born too early." - excerpt from The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion by Robin Elise Weiss with Dr. Marcello Pietrantoni.

Z and my parents-in-law have all started nesting. The IKEA cot, bath table, changing table and dimmer lights in our room at The House have been set up. Hospital bag for the baby has been packed and contents of my hospital bag is being finalised.

It does not stop there.

The Apartment is also going through a nesting process. The carpet in our bedroom is being replaced with laminated timber floor boards, daylight curtains being shopped for, cot and changing table arrived and ready to be installed with dimmer lights already working.

Looks like everyone else is getting excited but me. HORMONES?

Honestly, I am too hot and too bothered to appear "excited". The temperature is 34 degrees Celcius on average with 65% humidity. All I want is nap in an air-conditioned room where it is cool and dry!

Maybe it is my mood. Maybe it is just my hormones. Truth be told, the selection of breastfeeding bra in Malaysia retail is quite limited and thus disappointing. I am not risking the bad purchases online either as the sizes seem to differ from make to make. As I have 2 pairs of Y front breastfeeding bras at the moment, I am going to stick to this first until after Jr. arrives before purchasing more.

Not all is bad though. A healthy and nutritious lunch at a "baby friendly cafe" that lasted over 2 hours with my former schoolmate who is 9 weeks behind in terms of gestation age of the respective kiddos left us both with very positive feelings of pregnancy. We discussed Pregnancy 101 without either of us losing interest or bored eyes glazing over! Neither of us could ever imagine discussing disposable diapers (plastic landfill) versus cloth diapers (detergent contamination into waters) effects on the environment when we first met at 18 years old! Gifts were exchanged and we made baby bumps promise to "positivise" again in a fortnight.

Good things came to an end. Ante-natal classes comprising of 3 midwives and about 10 first timer parents like Z and I have been completed. We have taken the labour room tour, discussed pain management, laughed and cried over breastfeeding and birthing tips, debated over confinement practices and dealt with other nitty gritty details of pregnancy and newborn care. Now comes the period of anticipation of the arrival of the stork and handling the baby for real!

On the fun side, I outgrew my small sized pregnancy pants at the hips - Jr. has really "relaxed" my hips and pelvic area! The search (read shopping!) for replacement pants led to purchase of larger pregnancy jeans with adjustable waistline. I love it so much I want more! I have to shop for more nursing tops soon too, which is hard to come by in KL. Fashion does not seem to include maternity fashion *bah* but nothing save for my swollen feet will stop me from my retail therapy at this shop!

**Retrospective Wisdom: Rest! Ignore the demands of those around you who are not currently pregnant, if you can. This online shop has staple stock of nursing bras etc. Useful during confinement!**

Retrospective Wisdom: Week 34

"At week 34, the average baby weight is 2.205 kg. Your baby is still growing heavier and getting longer too. He or she measures approximately 43 cm and you are sure to feel plenty of baby tucked into your uterus. As your baby moves, you are less likely to feel large movements because there's less room in which to move around. You will, however, feel the baby stretching and wiggling. You might catch glimpses of feet, knees and elbows as they poke outward as your baby settles in to be born." - excerpt from The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion by Robin Elise Weiss with Dr. Marcello Pietrantoni.

I will have to call this "the nausea week". Threw up gastric juices a few times in the mornings this week. Lost my appetite around meal times but ate to nourish Jr. anyways. Keeping hydrated seemed more important as my bowel system is on sluggish mode. Constipation and frequent urination are sure signs that Jr. is beginning to engage. Prune juice and homemade yogurt fruit shakes are fortunately, quite palatable.

Whilst Jr.'s getting ready to be born and finding the birth path, sleepless nights caused by pelvic pressure resulting in more slept debts for me is inevitable. It is not always convenient to nap in the day time with so much nesting going on. Maybe the pelvic pressure trade off with backache is not that bad! I just need to lie down a lot (forced naps), walk less, and move slower. Agility seems to be a thing of the past, for now.

It was good to have another relaxing lunch at Delicious Bangsar Village II with a fellow pregnant girlfriend helped put things back into perspective. Fear of epidural and episiotomy have lessened too as I come to embrace it s-l-o-w-l-y after Dr Haris Hamzah's reassuring explanation.

Having said that, I think I will miss being pregnant after Jr. is born!

 

**Retrospective Wisdom: Meeting up with fellow preggers mummy for discussion, eat and shop is nourishing for the soul! Do not be a hero by choosing an all natural birth/water birth/gentle birthing if one is aware of self's low pain treshold/lack of facilities/has medical complications or history. Having said that, I RESPECT those who can endure long labours.**

Retrospective Wisdom: Week 35

"Baby is hanging in there, doing his or her part for the big birth day coming up. This consists principally of growing, developing and preparing to breathe and regulate body temperature. Your baby is now about 2.25 kg, though at this stage of the game there is more room for variance and where diet and genetics play a significant part. Your baby is approaching 46 cm from head to toe.

Babies born at this gestational age often do well with special care nurseries, but it is still considered early. Babies who are born early often have respiratory illnesses and breathing difficulties, which can lead to an increased risk of Sudden Infant Deaths Syndrome and lifelong issues such as asthma and learning disabilities (although the greatest risk is during the first year of life)." - excerpt from The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion by Robin Elise Weiss with Dr. Marcello Pietrantoni.

Shall we all just agree that this is the nesting week? We had the baby's space set up at The House by last week and this week the focus was at The Apartment. The master bedroom floorboards were installed to replace a decade old carpet. Cot and changing table are being set up, contents of wardrobe reorganised to include some space for Jr. We are even ordering new sheer curtains in the hope that the filtered light will help Jr differentiate day and night sleeping times.

I felt so much tick tock going on that I went into a nursing top and nursing bra shopping frenzy. I was measured for size, tested every single item I fancied, checked for practicality of use, not very red carpet worthy fashion review and poorer by a thousand later, Z and I carted all the items home for wash and dry. Neatly folded away and ready to use. Now we pray for milk! So adamant are we at breast feeding that we are refusing to buy spare bottles and formula to avoid giving up before we even start! We do have the breastpump!

A quick check-up by Dr Haris Hamzah (no scan this time so no statistics to post) confirmed that Jr.'s head is engaged. That pretty much explained all my symptoms and continuing agony since last week. When he proclaimed that "Any time now is possible, baby is ready to be born", Z and I froze for a moment. Term!

Hospital bag for me - checked.

Hospital bag for Jr. - checked.

Hospital bag for Z - er...

Hospital route from The House - checked.

Hospital route from The Apartment - er, depends on time of day. Being in the 50450/50088 postcode area can only mean a highly unpredictable traffic flow (read: mostly congested)

Birth plan and confinement plans - need to be drawn up! Still trying to decide on epidural and the gentle cut aka episiotomy or not. Confinement lady is out of the question as MIL has decided to cook on the condition that we serve 44 days of imprisonment at The House.

Sheer curtains - decide by next week after seeing the quotation.

Other 1001 things that probably do not matter but does to me due to nesting instinct - ARGH!

 

**Retrospective Wisdom: When the nesting instincts hit, just go with it, and ignore the naysayers about the EDD being "far away". Moral of this account/Fact: The Little Girl arrived 3 weeks early. If I had not listened to MY motherly instinct, I would have been completely unprepared.**

Retrospective Wisdom: Week 36

"Your baby weighs about 2.7 kg at this point. Most of the weight your baby will gain between now and birth will be brown fat, which is a layer of fat that will help your baby regulate his or her temperature after being born - a skill that is needed right from the start. Lengthwise your baby is about 46 cm long, and growing.

Toward the end of pregnancy, the weight and length differences between babies tend to be more pronounced. This is because humans are all slightly different. Genetics comes into play as well as personal health, nutrition, and wellness. Your practitioner may try to guess how large or small your baby is, but even with ultrasound, these guesses are usually off, sometimes by quite a lot. If these guesses make you anxious, say that you'd prefer not to be told." - excerpt from The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion by Robin Elise Weiss with Dr. Marcello Pietrantoni.

Continued lack of sleeping at night for me as the bump got heavier. Certainly more pressure on my chest and back can be felt as each day passes, with pelvic pressure also increasing - signifying the head engagement. My typical night:

11pm: Go to bed.

1am: Full bladder and aching back, takes 5 minutes to just roll my heavy self up, wait another few seconds to make sure that I can feel my legs steady, go to the toilet, check that there is no bloody show/waterbag leaks, saunter back to bed, roll gently back onto bed, negotiate with Jr. until both are happy with sleeping position. The whole "fiasco" usually disturbs or wakes Z up.

3am: Repeat the above.

5am: Repeat the above.

7am: Repeat the above.

9am: Wake up slightly tired from broken sleep.

3pm to 5pm: Try to nap, or put leg up to reduce swelling.

On the pleasant progress side, we had the new floorboard put in at The Apartment's master bedroom. The new sheer curtains have also been ordered and I hope they will arrive on time. At least this room with its attached bathroom is now baby ready and baby proof. We also cleaned out our wardrobes to pave way for more organised usage and practical reach for baby's things. The cot and changing table both are ready to receive Jr.!

Comparatively, we do not have as much control over the room at The House and we'd rather let it be pretty much the way it is until after the baby arrives. Necessary items like cot, changing table and bathing table are already in place but we are quite sure that we will adjust as we progress and adapt to the new addition to the family.

Braxton-Hicks featured commonly this past week with Jr. practising throughout the day at random. Since no more than 6 contractions were recorded, there was no need to panick. I try to practice my deep breathing each time it happens but wonder if I will remember to do so during labour!

Measurements taken by Dr. Haris Hamzah on 26 March 2010:

BPD: 9.31 cm (was 8.45 cm)

Head circumference: 31.28 cm (was 28.74 cm) target of average 35 cm

Abdominal circumference: 30.13 cm (was 26.42 cm)

Femur length: 6.55 cm (was 6.18 cm)

Weight: 2.371 kg (was 1.753 kg) target of average 3.5 kg

 

**Retrospective Wisdom: All that waking up to pee was a body prep to wake up every so often to breastfeed. Nice work, Allah is Truly Great**

Retrospective Wisdom: Week 37, the penultimate

" blah blah blah" so the pregnancy book that I have been reading goes.

"Your baby is nearing his or her final birth weight and getting ready to be born. You may feel like the baby is moving around a lot, though not with large movements. Your baby is looking for the path of least resistance to be born most easily. Your baby is more than 46 cm long." - excerpt from The Complete Illustrated Pregnancy Companion by Robin Elise Weiss with Dr. Marcello Pietrantoni.

28 March 2010

Nesting instinct was very strong when we were at The Apartment. I did what I could but decided to rest from 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm before our drive home to The House. My bestie had come by to pick up some stuffs as I had just cleaned out the closet and had so much to donate/give away. We sat down for an afternoon cuppa mint tea and chat before she left at 2 pm. Monica being Monica, she insisted that I rest after I told her about the achy PMS feeling. My bowels had returned to regular/loose the past 3 days and this is supposed to be one of the pre-labour signs too.

She hugged the belly and told The Little Girl not to pop out just yet. 3 more weeks to EDD. Monica was going to Singapore for business trip and prayed that The Little Girl will not pop out during that period either!

Braxton-Hicks were normal for the rest of the day. Z and I went to The Gardens for dinner and I had Laksam with Iced Bandung at Belanga Cafe. We had to walk very slowly to the car park with our groceries as the elevator was down (some people are blind, "they" cannot see that a very pregnant woman and other families with strollers and young toddlers need the lift more than they do. By "they" I mean strong, healthy and able bodied persons carrying nothing heavy but plain lazy and do not like walking in a mall!!) Question: If they do not like walking, why do they go to the mall, but I digress...

When we exit the car park, it was raining cats and dogs. Instead of braving on, Z decided to take shelter at Bangsar.

Back at The House at supper time, I asked my MIL if she remembers having PMS cramps before labour started but she laughed hard citing the fact that it was too long ago to really recall. With that, we said good night and exchanged our usual pecks before going to bed. She warned The Little Girl not to pop out just yet as Grandma was going to get new curtains for the family den, have new sofa and TV bench delivered, attend a wedding on the 11th of April. She asked Lil Girl to be punctual on 15th of April as Granddad has a business trip to Perth, Australia coming up on 29th of April.

As it was a Sunday night, Z was going back to the office the following day, we went to sleep by 11 p.m. after I had packed the final version of the hospital bags and lined my side of the bed with waterproof lining, just in case.

zzzZZZzzz

Then at 1.40 am, (you know the rest of the story!)

 

**Retrospective Wisdom: EDD is just a guide, Allah knows best.**

Retrospective Wisdom: Movers

Why them?

I have used them countless times in my Kuala Lumpur/ Klang Valley intercity moves. I have lived in these postcode areas of 59200, 59100, 60000, 50450 so you can imagine how many major moves I have had (this excludes the 40100 move which The Other Half and I did on our own as it was not major).

 Point blank reasons why I keep going back to MyRelo:
1. Punctual.
2. Reasonably priced.
3. Careful.
4. Insured.
5. Takes your instructions seriously and carry those tasks out meticulously.

I am one happy customer and will be more than glad to call them again should I ever need to relocate, again.

Faith journey

Surah Al-Baqarah Ayat 256-257: "Let there be no complusion in religion; truth stands out clear from error whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah hears and knows all things. Allah is the Protector of those who have faith; from the depths of darkness He will lead them forth into light. Of those who reject faith their patrons are the evil ones: from light they will lead them forth into the depths of darkness. They will be companions of the fire, to dwell therein (forever)."

Revelations after revelations also available in the Al Quran when I compared Roman Catholism, Protestant/Charismatic Christianity and Islam BEFORE embracing Islam.

 

Still refreshing to remind myself, deeper understanding gained after every read.

 

May Allah guide us on His Straight Path, always. Amin!