39 weeks and counting...

Still here...

Little Annika is giving me grief already! Yesterday I visited the obstetrician, thinking that would probably be the last, he would be doing an internal examination and giving me some good news.

Instead... horrors of horrors. The little girl, who was cephalic ( head down ) last week had turned transverse! At 39 weeks! My steadfast doctor, however, said to wait another week, to see if she would turn back down again and have a natural delivery.

I am not so confident this time around. I just hope I don't end up with an emergency Csection.

Last night wasn't great. I've been experiencing more and painful contractions over the past week in the middle of the night. Only they were rather sporadic and stopped when the dawn broke. Leaving me exhausted, of course. But last night, the contractions seemed to be more persistent, and they continued till this morning. They seem to have abated somewhat but I am waiting with bated breath. I still don't think she's head down just yet. I am keeping my fingers crossed that by a stroke of luck things will still happen naturally.

So today... I think I will try and rest as much as possible, and hope that things don't progress until Annika turns back down.... but these contractions are seriously quite uncomfortable!

38 weeks

I really cannot imagine that I am actually due next week! It's quite an unreal feeling.

Saw the gynae just 2 days ago and it was such a relief that the baby is already head down. She is just like Madison, moving so much that even at 36 weeks she was still alternating between a transverse and breech lie! Dr John Tee asked if I was in a hurry to have the baby, but I said 'no, it's alright! I am enjoying being able to sleep at night for the time being!' I think some people would choose to induce if they had the choice at this stage?

Other than that, it's the usual pregnancy complaints... chronic back discomfort, feeling heavy and the occasional pelvic twinge. Had a series of bad Braxton Hicks contractions in the middle of the night a few nights ago, that got me slightly worried that she was on her way. But in the morning, it seemed to settle.

On another note, Madison has reached another milestone. No, not potty training, but sleeping on her own.

It began in a rather odd way. Chris usually puts her to bed after her milk/bath/brush teeth/story book routine. That night, on the 26th June, he had a bout of his IBS and left her in the room while he went to the toilet. Twice. The second time round he told her that he needed to use the toilet and asked if she could go to sleep by herself. She said 'yes' and that was that! Since then, we've left her to sleep on her own after reading to her for about 20 minutes. So far so good.

Hence, I'm dreading when the baby arrives, how it's going to all go to waste. Will we regress back to her needing someone to stay with her till she sleeps? That's if we stay at the Novena house for awhile in the early stages. Am really not sure how we're going to cope with 2 at night. I wonder if the baby crying would wake Madison up too.

We had a great weekend last week. Madison was invited to a birthday party at Fidgets at Turf city, and she had a great time. Although she was a little terrified of the games they were playing ( the other kids were around 4 or older). Still, she participated with the birthday song, cake cutting and of course, enjoyed the food. The birthday girl had a delicious durian cake from Goodwood Park hotel.

The very next day we were invited to a friend's house for dinner. There were 3 other kids closer in age to Madison, and they had a great time playing together in the playroom at the house. It is a fantastic room, had mini beds with dolls, a small ironing board and clothes horse with pegs to boot,and a multistorey car thingy with toy cars. The kids were able to entertain themselves while the rest of us ate and gossiped. 2 other friends were also expecting their 2nd and 3rd kids. All due this year!

So, we're playing the waiting game now...

Argh... lost another IPHONE!

I just cannot believe my luck.

This is going to be the 2nd Iphone that I have lost in 2 years!

Maybe I cannot own an iphone? Am seriously contemplating not replacing the iphone. Maybe I should just get an ordinary phone and an ipod touch instead.

This time was really silly. I left the clinic for 30 minutes just to pick Madison up from Chinese class. I was not even rushing for time. When I arrived I looked at my phone and contemplated leaving it in the car while dropping in to pick her up. Then, on second thoughts, I thought I'd better bring it along JUST IN CASE the clinic needed me.

The last I recall was bringing Madison back to the car, taking her schoolbag off her back and then loading her into the car. Prior to that I put the bag and my keys ( and presumably, the phone) on the roof of the car while lifting her onto her car seat. Then I cannot remember for the life of me whether I collected the phone when I picked her bag and the car keys off the roof of the car.

I realized the phone was missing just as I pulled into the petrol station after dropping Madison off at home. Frantic, I searched the car and my handbag, and when the phone was nowhere to be found, I drove back to Serene centre to look for it. Of course it was nowhere to be found either.
I tried to ring the phone but it had been turned off. Argh.

I think the reason why I keep losing this phone is that I need to keep taking it in and out so frequently. And because it is big it doesn't really fit into small pockets.

But for now, I think I will go without the iphone for awhile. I have to get the SIM card replaced and use another mobile phone for the moment. This is really annoying. I think things will get worse with 2 kids to rush around for. Sigh...

Worries.... time flying!!

And in the blink of an eye, another month has sadly passed us by..

I don't know why, but I really quite like the month of June. It's a holiday month. When we were kids, we had the June schoolbreak.

Now, when June comes around, traffic is so much better ( no school rush for parents ), it's quieter in the mornings ( no silly beeping school buses at 0630h ! ) Everything just feels more relaxed. Chai also comes back from Melbourne during the break, so it's a nice change.

Today is already the last day of June. And I have passed 36 weeks. Oh gosh. Like it or not, in another 3 weeks or so Annika is coming. I don't think I am ready for it this time. So many things still not sorted out yet.

1. Where are we going to spend the first 'month'? For Madison, we stayed at my parents' place so that we would have easy access to care and help. This time round, would Madison have difficulty sleeping in the house? Would she keep waking up at night? Would it be too noisy-- the 3 dogs there do bark in the middle of the night. Ideally she should sleep in her room at our own place, but could I cope with the new baby and her?

2. How is she going to get to school once I deliver? Would I be fit enough to drag myself out and drive her to school? And then pick her up ? All the while co-ordinating the new baby's routine/eating/sleeping?

3. What about the clinic? I think at this stage it'll probably go without a doctor for a month or so, then I'll start up again on an adhoc basis.

4. New house.... it's actually going to take longer than we expected to clear the paperwork. We met up with Mandy, the banker from HSBC to sort out the bank loan, and then the lawyer to sign some papers on Monday. It'll still take another 10-12 weeks before everything is processed, so we can't get the keys to even start planning any renovations.

5. With the new baby and work, would it actually be easier to be based initially at Papillon? Considering that the current apartment ( although small ) is right next to the practice. But the way things are going, we probably would have to keep staying there for a few months after the baby arrives until the renovations are done. In that case, we can't rent Papillon out yet for awhile until everything is sorted out. Thank goodness the bank didn't want to lend us more money!! This way we should be able to afford both mortages.

6. I haven't even sorted out the new baby's lodgings! We can't decide if we need to buy another cot. There is a spare one at Novena house, but none at our place. I was thinking, Madison would probably outgrow her cot by next year at the latest, and we should probably just transport the spare cot over to our place if we decide to stay at home.

7. I have to pack my hospital bag and get the usual nursing stuff ready. Crap. Am so lazy this time around. Busy with work, actually...

But, one thing that I have learned from the first time round.... with babies, you really cannot plan too much in advance. Things kind of just happen, and they do sort themselves out eventually. The baby DOES grow up and we do get time back on our hands. Everything IS TEMPORARY. That's what I keep telling myself to stop me from going insane or having a panic attack at this stage!

Still.... I am dreading the sleeplessness most of all... that really takes a toll... from memory... have to survive the first 6 months...

An exciting weekend

The weekend that just passed started out like any other weekend... breakfast together with Chris ( usually he's off to work before Madison gets up), then off to music class at United square for the 2 of them while I usually have patients to see or attend to.

Sometimes in the afternoon Chris and I go property hunting. Usually he's the one looking up the ads for interesting property to go and look at. This weekend was no different. Except that he saw an ad for a property that had just been completed and just received its temporary occupation permit (TOP). It was a property that we'd been kind of interested in, but thought that it was overpriced in the current property market.

Anyway, Chris called the agent up, and arranged for a viewing. The agent, Joshua, just happened to be the same one that took us to see another property previously, a few months ago. We didn't like what we saw then, so didn't hear from him since then.

The property we saw is called Montebleu. It's across the road from where we live at the moment, so it's still close to work and the grandparent's place. But, it's a small upgrade from district 12 to 11.

Joshua took us to look at a 4 bedroom suite on the 32nd floor first. It was quite large ( by Singapore apartment standards) at 1800 sq feet. The view was amazing. We could see Marina Bay Sands, the Singapore Flyer and even mountains in the distance that was probably Indonesia. The rooms were a little small, but the living area was decent. Madison had a field day running through the apartment.

Unfortunately, the asking price was exhorbitant. SGD 2.5million.

So we went downstairs to have a look around at the grounds, admire the poolside. Just as we were about to leave Joshua asked if we wanted to see the 3 bedroom apartment. We thought, why not.

The 3 bedroom apartment felt much smaller in comparison to the suite we'd just seen, but the layout was good. Made the 1100 sq feet feel bigger than it was. It had 3 bedroom, which is what we need, and a larger living area than what we have at the moment. It wasn't cheap per square foot, but the quantum was within our budget. Also within what the bank would lend us.

So... we made an offer to the agent and he said he'd speak to the owner.

On Sunday, Chris found another advertisement for the apartment but at a lower price. He called the other agent up and this other guy said that if we wrote out the 1% deposit cheque he'd drive over and deliver it to the owner immediately to secure the purchase!

I didn't feel quite safe handing over close to $15K to some unknown agent, so we called Joshua up. He said he knew the owner quite well and had been dealing with him for the past 3 years and was unlikely to sell at the lower price.

Anyway... I felt like I needed to see the apartment again to confirm that it was what we really wanted. So we drove over to see the apartment again. Once we were there Joshua told us the owner was good to sell, albeit at the price that was originally offered.

SO we did the deed. Signed the option form and handed the cheque over to Joshua. The owner did not renege on his agreement and so we are the new owners of the apartment!

Now the scramble to put the money together for the deposit!!! ARGH....

Potty training

Today is a little momentous....

Madison volunteered to sit in her little potty this morning without her diapers and after 10 minutes, actually peed in the pot!

I know some parents who have already successfully trained their little ones to go diaper free. But I confess... I have been somewhat laid back about actively training her to use the potty. We did try for a period of time when she was younger, but it didn't really work. So we kind of gave up till now...

My mother-in-law has been asking whether Madison is potty trained yet. I think perhaps people start to expect that kids are fully trained by the time they turn 2. But after reading around the topic, I think it is easiest to wait till she's ready-- maybe school will speed the process up too. Already at Chinese class they have a built in time slot for snack and toilet time. I think some of her classmate(s?) are already toilet trained.

As they say, no one goes to college in diapers! So I am hopeful...

Guilty....

It's so hard being a parent!

Today I decided to drop by the house at 1130, just prior to Madison's lunch time. I thought it would be nice to spend some time with her, maybe cook her lunch and then go back to work. All was fine until the time came for lunch.

Elizabeth came up to join us for lunch, and soon she was merrily eating her meal.

Madison, on the other hand, was half hearted eating hers, trying to spit every mouthful out. Sigh. That really drives me bonkers. As time drew on, my patience wore thinner and thinner... and then she started whining and standing in her seat. Finally the straw broke when she started spitting the food out. Initially I kinda warned her about capital punishment... like a threat... but she kept doing it so I did the deed. Spanked her on the hand. Once. She started to cry. So then I took her out of her seat and ended the meal. I got to her level and told her that I didn't like her spitting her food out.

To be honest, I was furious at that point, and I was still angry when I took her to the bathroom to clean up. Ok.. so I used a little more force than I should probably have while washing her hands and face... but I didn't spank or hit her anymore. I guess she could tell from the tone of my voice that I was angry.

Finally when she was all clean and tidy we had both calmed down. I don't know if she'll remember what I'd said.. and I felt sad that I had lost my temper. Although after reading the book on positive discipline I consciously remember to control myself now. I hugged and kissed her just before I had to go back to the clinic.

How do people do it? Become saints and effective parents...?? To be calm and in control at all times? That's the reason why I couldn't be a stay -at -home mom. I'd probably go insane. That's not wrong, is it?