On the kiddy front...

First.. preschool hunting... am so glad to say that I have finally found the preschool that I like.

Pat's Schoolhouse on Buckley road. It's quite close to the Novena house( well, walking distance ). The school is set in an old Victorian type house, with a large yard and plenty of rooms inside that are divided into the various classrooms.

The principal, Elsie Lim, is also a lovely lady. She was patient and friendly, and the kids all seemed to love her. Her daughter was in the kindergarten class when we visited. Madison seemed to like the schoolgrounds too... first thing we saw when we alighted from the car was a group of kids playing in toy cars. And she was all ready to join in!

When I asked about potty training, I was so relieved that they didn't expect Madison to be fully potty trained by the time she starts school! Although I am sure that within a month of schooling she'd be trained... peer pressure always works! Another school principal ( I shall not name ) had that horrified look that Madison might not be trained by the time she entered at 2+!

So... without hesitating I filled in the registration form and have since then posted my cheque for $321. Am still waiting for a place because she cannot confirm till July/August whether siblings of current kids require the spots.

This is also Madison's second week at drop off Mandarin class. She still sobs the first 10-15 minutes ( according to Warni!) but after that seemed to settle for the rest of the class. We also attended our first music session at Mandeville, after waiting for the past month for it to start. The lesson itself was pretty good, the teachers sing and play the piano, and the kids get to use bells, tambourines and other small music instruments. BUT. It was SO CROWDED. I don't know how many parent-child pairs there were, must have been 10-12, and one kid had BOTH his parents there until the teachers told them gently to only have 1 parent stay! The room was pretty small and we were seated on the floor for most of the class. Think I shall see how this first term goes and then decide whether or not to continue.

As for number 2, I saw Prof John Tee last Friday. Gave him the fetal anomaly scan results and the letter from stemcord for cord blood banking. It was quite embarrasing that Sally ( his trusted nurse assistant) had to call me to ask if I was coming for the appointment. I had a 1550 appointment and was running late since I had to drop Madison off to class. I didn't expect his clinic to have finished at 4PM!

Baby is doing well, and scan results were all normal. The appointment took all of 15minutes, most of it spent doing the routine urine/weight/blood pressure and payment/making the next appointment!

The only thing I really noticed this pregnancy is the severe back/butt pain that I had during the Phuket trip. It seems to have settled somewhat now, but it was excruciating during that time. I was thinking maybe sciatica, and looked it up online as to what else I could do since NSAIDS are out of the question. Then it seems that I may have something else. Pelvic Girdle Pain/dysfunction. Something to do with relaxin affecting the joints of the pelvis, including the pubic symphisis and sacroiliac joints. Something like 20%of pregnant women suffer from it. The description of the syndrome seemed to perfectly fit what I had. And it seems that true sciatica as a result of pregnancy is much more rare.

The only thing that can be done for PGD is apparently avoiding high impact sports, pelvic support in the form of belts and rest. It recurs with subsequent pregnancies and in a small number of people becomes a chronic pain syndrome! Horrors.

I am thankful that at least for now the pain seems to have mostly subsided into the occasional nag and twinge, unlike 2 weeks ago when I could barely walk or dress myself! I am trying to do non weightbearing activity, such as swim, and it seems to really help.

Hopefully the back pain that I had after delivery the last time doesn't come back to haunt me too!