The FINAL Trimester

I can't believe it.. I am FINALLY in trimester 3.. not sure if that's good or not..

Madison IS getting bigger.. that much I can definitely feel.. her squirms and kicks are packing a punch these days, and her body parts occasionally get in the way of my activity.. just the other day I was suddenly UNABLE to bend forward to dress! I was horrified and had to prod her ??feet/head out of the way of my LIVER and RIBCAGE so that I could complete my dressing!

Leg cramps.. yes.. I used to wonder whether they were for real.. now I am starting to experience them with varying intensity, usually at night .. just like how they warn you.. of course, nocturnal pee breaks, midnight hunger pangs ... I guess the books are not just trying to frighten you. Oh and the occasional episode of sudden INSOMNIA.. must be nature's way of preparing you for the eternal sleepless nights to follow...

Today Pa, Ma, Chris and I went to the MAID agency to start scouting for a possible domestic helper.. ok,ok before any comments on human rights and slave labour.. I had my doubts about this issue too.. but I suppose if you look at it as hiring an extra pair of hands( just like one would hire a personal assistant!) who could assist with the household menial chores, thus giving me more baby time..

We had lunch at a lovely cafe by a riding club, aptly named :Rider's Cafe. Geok, Mun Hon and Chai met us there, and we all shared a host of dishes: sandwiches, french toast, omelet, Caesar Salad, Portobello mushroom.. Service was average but the food was pretty tasty and fairly prompt.

I had to attend a CME session on Macro vascular disease management, the usual stuff on cardiovascular disease risks, obesity management and smoking cessation. This course took the entire weekend, from yesterday ( saturday ) which included a workshop that finally finished close to 1830h and today's session which completed at 1630h. There is a MCQ portion as well, but the entire course entitles you to quite a few CME points!

Really tired now... that's the other thing pregnancy seems to do to you.. eternal daytime sleepiness..

THE HEAL JOO CHIAT CLINIC

Time really flies! In the blink of an eye 2 weeks have flown past and January 2008 is almost over!

Well... I have been rather busy with the setting up of THE HEAL JOO CHIAT clinic.. its FINALLY FINISHED! We have been popping over daily in the afternoons to organise the final bits--getting the equipment set up, buying furniture for the various rooms, briefing staff about operational details, meeting up with sales representatives from drug companies, laboratory and radiological service providers. We are only left with the final official MOH license inspection and the fire safety documents to come through. Oh, and of course, the internet access..

pics will be posted soon... akan datang!

COT SHEETS

Finally... we settled down and bought the baby cot..

We've been shopping and thinking about the baby cot for the longest time, not wanting to sink the funds into a piece of furniture that will stay with us for awhile.. the selection available is fairly standard and not exactly enticing, unlike the options we saw while on holiday in the USA..

So finally we went with the cot at IKEA.. its a simple wooden cot and we got a separate spring mattress as well. Its not a big cot but then we don't exactly have a BIG house.. Pa bought one for the Novena house as well, seeing that we'll probably be spending a fair amount of time camping out at grandparents' place!!

Anyway, I have decided to embark on making some nice sheets to last her awhile... we popped over to Spotlight over at Plaza Singapura and spent an hour perusing the amazing variety of cloth sold.. not cheap though, I must add.

We finally agreed on 3 designs: Winnie the Pooh, Mon bebe and a yellow flower print..
Total damage: almost $200 ...
But the material is fantastic... Madison WILL have the NICEST sheets around... ! Now just to make sure she doesn't pee or poo too badly on them !!

THE NEW AGE EXPECTANT FATHER...

This should be an interesting topic for all fathers -to - be in the 21st century..

Let's see.. men in the 21st century are expected by society to be partial breadwinners, succeed in their chosen fields, find a nice well matched bride, father children AND participate in their upbringing...

What can I say about women in the 21st century... I think we are a bold lot, having great expectations of the men we choose to marry.. some finally choose not to, maybe because ALL men disappoint them and are unable to live up to their increasing expectations???

So once we become pregnant.. hm... the ball kinda lands on the poor guys court.. well, we ARE the ones having to suffer 10 months of pregnancy related complaints, so WE MOST CERTAINLY are going to make full use of our limited privileges!

Chris has been doing an excellent job, albeit he has had the time off to do it of course... he's taken 6 months off paid work as a glorified hospital slave to do research and contemplate the future... Housework has been divvied up, he gets the vacuming and ironing nowadays, while i get to keep my cooking and washing of the bathrooms.. mainly because I am sort of a germ phobic....

He's doing the ironing now.. and keeping an excellent standard of it... am really proud of him ..
Oh.. and of course, being somewhat of a handyman around the house when needed...

OUR 7TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

05.01.2001 : that was the fateful date that Chris was irrevocably stuck to me!!

Its been 7 amazing years since that day and I am happy to say that everyday still feels like a brand new day...

Being together for so long already, the day started off pretty 'normally'.. I had to go to work at Drs Horne and Chin at the Shaw Centre, Chris had to go and attend the weekly stem cell meeting at SGH. Work was super stressful.. patients were crowding the clinic, some were getting frustrated and were ranting away angrily... I got to do a partial nail resection!

I finished work at 12noon and Chris met me for lunch.. where else but our favourite Marriott Crossroads cafe! We had a club sandwich and Caesar salad followed by a Movenpick Maple Walnut milkshake.

After the delectable meal we then headed over to the Joo Chiat clinic to oversee the operations again. We met up with Pa at the clinic. The men helped us put up the degree scrolls and some pictures, then we drove over to the Tampines Ikea to pick up more paraphernalia ... a few stools, trolley for the pantry and the baby cots!

By the time we were done it was 7Pm and we frantically drove home in the horrendous traffic to shower and change to drive over to Sentosa for dinner at the CLIFF! My favourite restaurant in the entire state of Singapore.. chris booked it as a surprise for me... considering it doesn't really serve much MEAT or CHICKEN... this is what TRUE LOVE is all about...

Walking into the resort itself feels like being in Bali already, setting up the atmosphere for a romantic relaxing night. We are promptly greeted by the Maitre'd and shown to our seats. Menus and water are served immediately and then we are left to peruse the menu. We chose to share an entree of Wagyu beef cheek crepe with prawns, followed by pumpkin seed crusted sea bass for me and Filet Mignon for Chris. The entree was , without a doubt the best dish ... tender morsels of beef enveloped by a rich brown sauce and surrounded by succulent prawns and served with a horseradish foam.

Dessert we shared as well, choosing the raspberry souffle which was accompanied by chocolate ice-cream, thick sauce, raspberry sauce and a macaroon. We both came to the conclusion that the Cliff definitely serves one of Singapore's best desserts! The souffle was light on the tongue, the ice-cream dark and rich while the raspberry sauce perfectly complimented the macaroon.

By the time dinner was done we were both tired and full...
Thank you Chris for a wonderful dinner , and most importantly, 7 wonderful years of my life!
Love you lots!!!

BABY SHOPPING PART TWO: THE UPDATE

Well.. time is ticking away.. and so are the SALES!! Post christmas, Pre New Year, Post New Year, and soon.. PRE CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

Am now officially in the land of the 3rd trimester, no turning back... (not that there EVER WAS!) but reality is starting to set in...

It's been a LONG drawn shopping trip... which I love, of course.. starting during our foray to the United States where we bought lots of clothes, the Baby Bjorn Air and of course , Babyplus... which I am proud to say that I have been faithfully using ALMOST everyday...albeit once a day...

Pa and Ma have purchased a baby mover system from Mothercare, the Atlas which comes with a car seat/docking station, stroller and accompanying paraphernalia like diaper bag, rain cover and small sleeping bag in case it ever snows here in Singapore.. you never KNOW....

Last week at the Robinsons' sale we also purchased an AVENT bottle sterilizer with another 2 125ml bottles, a baby swaddler, some mittens and booties. At Isetan the AVENT single electric breast pump was the one we decided on in the end because of its portability, for convenience sakes we probably would get another pump as well... making it a dual pump without the size of the dual electric pump. Hopefully that works...

Geok has also bought us a soft toy giant NEMO.. thank you.. to join the GIANT rubber duckie that Chai bought for us..

Our cousin Wai Leong has kindly offered us some of his kids stuff too.. which we are eagerly awaiting...

Reading material? Lots.. our newest purchase is "Your Baby Month by Month" written by Su Laurent and Peter Reader.. pretty good bedtime story material! OF course we have the " what to expect when expecting" , " Yummy Mummy" by Liz Fraser and Jools Oliver's autobiography.. Its fascinating, how much interest a tiny being generates once you become preggy!

Happy New Year 2008

Time truly flies... another year sadly passes us by

2007 was a pretty fun year.. last new year's eve was spent with Po Meng and Kah Wee, at Marina Bay where we had supper at Cafe Cartel, then rushed out to see the fireworks halfway through the supper, only to find that they had cleared our food... they promised us a replacement meal anytime during the year, but we never returned to claim that meal! Well, Po Meng is now in New Mexico chasing after his life long dream of flying a JET PLANE, Kah Wee is blissfully pursuing her career in psychiatry.

Chris and I spent our annual ski holidays in Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan with his mum and Anthony. Chris booked a really nice 2 bedroom condominium apartment which came with a kitchen and sitting room. It was powder haven, and I think we all had a fantastic time. Not forgetting the onsens..

Career wise, Chris completed all his exams and MMED, and started waiting in the queue for the AST job in Plastics.. so far he's attended 2 interviews for the job... and still waiting... hopefully 2008 brings better opportunities..... I completed my GDFM examinations, and started regular hours with Drs Horne and Chin at Shaw Centre... as well as continuing practice at IPSS at TTSH...

Family wise.. well.. we knuckled down and GOT PREGNANT.. so another tick... sadly of course, this means the last new year as a DINK couple... (double income no kids)..

This year, Pa booked dinner at NUSS at Suntec Guild house for the family as well as some relatives. There were 16 of us in total. Dinner was a typical set meal at the bistro...when we first arrived, there were these people dressed in black tie so we initially thought we were SEVERELY under dressed for the occasion! Fortunately they were attending a private party in the function room next to the bistro!

We started off with a selection of seafood appetizers, which was then followed shortly by a clear chicken consume with tortellini. Main course was a choice between pan roasted cod steak or slow roasted beef cheeks with lamb. I had the cod and Chris the beef. The cod steak was decent sized and adequately cooked without losing its moistness, it was accompanied by a lobster based tart and some mashed potato. The beef cheeks were tender but a little dry, the lamb was fairly well done.

Dessert was a slice of opera cake with raspberry coulis accompanied by coffee or tea. Unfortunately there were no petit fours... We finished dinner at 10PM and sat around chatting until 11PM.

There were fireworks at Marina Bay again this year, and the crowds started gathering 20 minutes before midnight. Fortunately Ma got me a seat at the Starbucks so I was able to have a good view from the comforts of the store!

Well.. the new year started off with a big bang... and now we all return to normality after a month of parties, holidays and fun... sob....