Reflecting

Was reading through my past entries of my first pregnancy around the same time - about end June 04 to start of August, and I realised I complained so much! At first Ben & I thought that this pregnancy is more difficult than the first one, but boy are we wrong... I had bodyaches, din wanna go school, fretted and fretted and fretted, and Abby also poked me a lot. But God's been really good, and this time around, we found out the cause of the hip problem I had and was having. Usually in pregnancy, we're recommended to have lotsa pillows to support our weight, but that's precisely the reason why my hip had been hurting so badly. I found this out accidentally in Sydney coz we only had 2 pillows and I didn't wanna ask for extra. So I used one while the other was used to prevent Abby from falling off the bed. And because of that, my hip stopped hurting! I hadn't realised it yet, only when I used another cushion as a bolster to support my upper leg that I suffered pain the next day, for the two days I used the cushion. *Eureka!* Eversince then, I stopped using support and I've been walking fine. Praise the Lord! :) My reasoning is - blood circulation is poor when my leg is lifted. As such cramps are reduced too! :) I used to have such bad cramps the first pregnancy - almost every night! But right now it's really much better. :)

Also, I put on less weight compared to the first pregnancy. I think I put on about 10-12kgs from the start of the pregnancy till now, as compared to the 18kg when I had Abby. My tummy's trimmer now also (though some people claim that it's bigger than before) and I'm praying that Baby2 will go full term and be delivered naturally right around his due date! :)

So my cureent state so far:
* Physically still active and strong, thank God for painfree hips. Occasionally Baby2 will go for my sore area on my belly - near my right hip which is a pretty sensitive spot - and that'll hurt. But that's occasional, happened for two different days since I started feeling his movements.

* Much lesser stretchmarks - although the areas are different - it used to be butt and hips. Now it's near the belly button (very slight) and itching at the lower abdomen area - sign of impending stretchmarks... :S

* Mentally grateful for the pregnancy and learning to love both my kids. Somehow I'm learning to love Abby so much more, and that influences my love for Baby2 also.

* Willing to go through local confinement practices. (NO KIDDING!) But I dunno how much "No hairwashing/bathing" I'm able to take. Seeing women who've gone through strict practices and emerging STRONG really makes me wanna do it well this time round.

* Willing to stand up for myself and my little ones - unlike the last time. Still tactful, but not servile.

* Thinking twice about epidural. The side effects were no joke.

* Pondering about the placenta issue... :S

* Wondering how to juggle studies, deadline, exams with the birth and Abby's adjustment. We're putting the house moving on hold, until I finish my exams (that's about May) and see if we (and Lina) are able to cope with the two precious. Also, I think my MIL will be really busy with her younger brother's second child (dunno how involved she will be there), our Baby2 plus Carole's Baby2 due in Sept! :D But seeing the bond between Abby & her (and Abby's yeye) is really lovely. MIL is really strong - Ben carried Cody just now and through that, realised that MIL's really very strong!! She attributes it to adhering strictly to the confinement practices when she delivered her three babies!

* Getting ready logistically for Baby2. Stocked up on milk bags, pump parts, clothes (mostly hand-me-downs, thank God!), breast pads and nursing tops. Have been scrutinising all tops and thinking how to transform them to nursing tops.

* Hoping that NIE would have a pumping/nursing room for nursing NIE trainees. Wrote to them through the Trainee Teacher Suggestion Form (but they really had no idea who to channel it to!) and hope that by next sem, they have basic facilities, such as fridge and private room. Come on, they're revamp the NIE Art Gallery (a white elephant) into a Student (Relac) Centre! Surely they'll have space for such a room! And think of the positive publicity they'll get! Also, it's in line with the Government's pro-family practices! And most importantlly, I don't have to get chased out smelly toilets while pumping halfway by soon-to-go-home cleaners!

* Survived a car accident in 2nd trimester as well as gastric flu @ around 30 weeks. Not good to be puking and having diarrhea while pregnant. Got compensated for the car accident. PRAISE THE LORD! :D The amount was just RIGHT for part of the renovation for the new place! :)

* Feet not bloated (can't remember when they started bloating very badly) but I'm wearing comfortable Hush Puppy shoes. They look like Birks.

Overall, I really thank God for both the pregnancies, coz children are a heritage from the Lord! :)

The List Goes On...

It's started. Can't just stop at 5 simple pleasures... it does too much injustice... so here goes the list of thanksgiving!

* Feeling my babies kick (especially the initial movements!)
* Feeling my babies' hiccups
* Seeing my babies on the ultra sound
* Meeting Abby for the first time!
* Getting pregnant
* Being pregnant
* Labour & delivery
* Cheap and good massages
* Shopping on Y! Auctions and finding great steals
* Being creative and coming up with cost-saving ideas
* Designing my own place
* Seeing God provide for all our needs
* Witnessing Lisa's baptism
* Receiving lil' notes from Ben
* Seeing God provide for my friends
* Seeing God provide friends :)
* Having an uninterrupted conversation with my best fren Eve (Extremely pleasurable but definitely not simple!)
* Seeing Lisa desire to live a holy and pure life for Christ
* Hearing Abby say Amen!
* Being organised
* Striking off items from my To Do list
* Seeing my MIL smile
* Baking for my loved ones
* Eating my aunt michelle's cooking
* Seeing Mattie enjoy his food
* Seeing my aunt michelle eat till she's too full to move
* Seeing Abby enjoy her food
* Seeing Abby's puzzled look
* Receiving smses from my mum telling me she loves me
* Reading till the last page of a book
* Seeing my granny love Christ
* Holding Ben's hand
* Getting spontaneous kisses from Abby
* Packing my room
* Eating vinegar pig's trotter
* Eating candy floss
* Eating EXCELLENT sashimi
* Eating oyster shooters for the first time
* Rhema!
* Encouraging others to run the race for Christ
* Seeing frowns change to smiles
* Teaching
* Marking my pupils' work
* Talking to my pupils' parents and having win-win relationships
* Mutually encouraging colleagues in the teaching force
* Riding on the momentum and being totally productive
* Thinking out of the box
* Doing logic puzzles
* Completing sudoku puzzles

... there are just so many more... I thank God for all these pleasures in life! :)

I'm It!

Tagged from Michelle's blog...

Name five of life's simple pleasures that you like most, then pick five people to do the same. Try to be original and creative and not use things that someone else has already used:

Hmm... Only 5? That's gonna be difficult.

1. Being in God's presence. Simple but AWESOME!

2. Being with Ben. That's the next best thing.

3. Having Abby cuddle up with me and kiss me in the morning as she calls 'Mummy!'.

4. Breastfeeding & encouraging others to do it too!

5. Steaming hot shower in cold weather.

Now, my turn to tag the next 5:
Eve
Joyce
Lisa
Ranz
Carole

Something to share

The In-between Place

Wait for it; it will certainly come.
Habakkuk 2:3 NIV

Waiting isn't easy, but it's necessary. God is working on both ends of the line; He's getting you ready for it (even when you don't know what it is), and He's getting it ready for you. Look at Joshua. He's been to the Promised Land, now he has to go back and live with people who have no idea and, in most cases, no interest in what he's talking about. Is that where you are today?

To get from where you are to where you're going you have to be willing to be in-between. It's hard to let go of the familiar and stand with your hands empty while you wait for God to fill them, especially in the area of: (1) Feelings. When you finally face your resentment and decide to let it go, you can feel empty for a time. This is normal. You're in-between pain and the peace that comes from forgiving and accepting. Hang in there, it will pass. (2) Relationships. When you let go of someone it can be frightening, because now you're feeling a sense of loss. Don't rush into another relationship half-dressed and ill-prepared. Talk to God; you need this time to become whole and learn to make healthy choices. (3) Jobs, homes and goals. You've let go of the old but you're not sure if you can handle the new, or even when it's coming.

When Jesus said, "Let us go over to the other side" ( Mark 4:35 NIV), the lessons His disciples learned in-between changed them forever - and they'll change you too!

Thinking out of the box

Need to be prudent with money... right now I've saved $180 by replacing the keys of my very worn out iBook G4 with some letters and sticky tape! (Confession: It was an act of procrastination that led to that act.)

I've also been surfing the local Y! Auctions site for nursing outfits in a bid to save some $$, but lately, I chanced upon some sites that teach people how to make their own nursing tops!! This is the best of the lot I've seen so far, and possibly too challenging for me. I think I'll just rummage through my existing wardrobe to see how I can make use of my tank tops and camisoles to create nursing wear... ;)

Also, by 'shopping online' but refraining from buying (too much), I'm encouraging myself to go through the stuff I already have and either USE them, give them away, sell them or throw them away. I'm almost done with my clothes, just that for the selling part, I'm really too lazy to take photos and do write ups of them. But I need to lah. Otherwise I'll be moving a lot of junk when we move house... or rather, move our stuff over to the new place. Space constraint for junk, too much space in the bank account - so what to do? :D K, k, cannot be lazy liao. Must continue to think out of the box and be frugal! :D

Why Stomach Flu is Not Funny

Ben was down last Thursday, then Abby (on Saturday) then the mummy on Tuesday. Seems like my FIL was also slightly affected by the bug in the middle of Tuesday nite, but seems he took 2 panadol tablets and was done with it! I'm just sooooo amazed by my in-laws, esp my MIL. After staying with them for about 2.5yrs, she's always the nurse/doctor taking care of all of us whenever we're ill. She' STRONG!!!! I used to frown upon her methods/self-medicating efforts, but after 2.5yrs of great health, you've gotta really sit up and look. Pray that God will continue to bless her with great health! :)

Missed a full day's worth of school today, and there's no way I can get through an 8.30am to 3.30pm non-stop day when I can hardly sit up. Guess I'll just have to do my readings at home (which I've been attempting to do for the past 2 days). But the good news today is - I'm eating! Haven't been eating much, just peckish, and it all comes out. Oops. I forgot to take my medication for anti-vomiting BEFORE food. :P Anyway, hope to get back on track with my readings/projects and assignments. This early 'deadline' a.k.a. the arrival of the baby is quite a bit to handle, esp when I have no idea when it'll take place - although my Ob did give an EDD of 20 March. But then again, Abby was 20 Aug, and she appeared on 02 Aug. If this lil' one appears earlier then it'll be a trickier situation to handle in terms of school. I'm really trusting God to handle the timing.

Anyway, back to rest/reading...

Something to share

The Word for Today With Bob Gass
Wednesday, 18th January 2006

To Keep From Falling

Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
1 Corinthians 10:12 NAS

Every moral fall has a history. There's no such thing as "a spiritual blow-out." The final and deliberate act of your fall may be sudden and disastrous, but it's been growing in some dark place in your life. Paul realised that his readers would respond to the danger of falling in one of two ways.

(1) He knew some would say, "That will never happen to me." To them Paul writes, "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." Pride will cause you to believe you're immune. That's how the enemy plans it. We need to heed every warning the Scriptures provide. Plus, we are not the only ones at risk. When the big oak falls it usually takes a lot of the little ones with it.

(2) He knew others would say, "I'm in too deep, I can never get out." To them Paul writes, "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you will be able to endure it" ( 1 Corinthians 10:13 NAS).

Isn't that great news? God not only understands your struggle, He promises you an exit-strategy: a way to get beyond it. A sheep cannot conquer a wolf, but he can beat it every time by staying close to the shepherd. So move closer to God today - and stay there!

The reason why I haven't been blogging much

Trying to cope with school... why? Coz I just realised I'm spending too little time in school! Sigh. Effectively, I only have full days on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Went to school today for a 1hr lecture - wanted to do some reading before school as well as some planning - but only got the planning done and not the reading. So i'm lagging. It's started. Also, I end really early on Fridays and I'm just so tempted to come home straight away. I'm one of those weirdos who like long gaps of no lessons in between - it forces me to spend my time wisely instead of just rushing home and be totally unproductive after that. Also, I've quite a no. of excuses for not wanting to go home late - traffic, tired, etc. So I go home early, then I have no idea where my time goes. Not good. Also, when I have late lessons, i.e. not 8.30am lessons, I'll be late. But then again, I'm sometimes late for my 8.30 lesson also... :S but i actually set aside more time for travelling for my 8.30am lesson and procrastinate lesser before I leave the house. Otherwise when I'm done with procrastinating, I'm late.

So today shall be my last unproductive day. I will have to catch up on my readings, start on all my assignments so that I can give birth without worrying about the deadlines and attempt to understand what's going on in lectures and tutorials. I'll try.

More Good Things To Come!

It's been one week of school, and I'm enjoying it! (Except those times when I'm trying to recall what I learnt in my previous semesters for my Functional Grammar classes... It's really not advisable to 'return everything' to the tutor once u're done with the module(s)!) Need to go Student & Academic Services to sort out the leave of absence after my delivery. Also, I managed to get a 4day week (before recess week) and 3day week (after recess week)! It'll be really helpful as I'll be BIG! God's really good :) I almost didn't manage to get Wednesdays off coz I kinda pissed the co-ordinator off by missing the deadline, but thank God everything's resolved. :)

Cleared the walk-in closet partially today while Ben and friend(s) are at the new place plastering walls and painting away! :) Wish I were there painting as well. Love to paint! :) But cannot. :'( Fumes alone will make me high. So I tidied up the closet - did some indoor 'shopping' by trying out all the maternity outfits (especially those which I thought I'd never wear) and they turned out kinda nice! :) So I've sorted out the clothes for the next ten weeks (yup - maternity stuff) and then also put aside the nursing wear (just in case we don't move out by the time I deliver, standby just in case). As for the oh-so-tight bottoms, they've been nicely packed, with personalised resolutions to fit into every single one of them (soon or not I'm not sure) after delivery. Heh. :P I've gotta clear out the non-nursing/pregnancy tops. Some I can still use while nursing, while the rest (that's what I've gotta sort out) I'll just pack them away.

Gotta sort out my notes also. My corner here is in a huge mess! My perpetual problem - stuff which my students made for me - I've only taught for two years and I really dunno what to do with the lovelies they've given me! *Confession: Some not so familiar names are also sitting in the pile - u know, those classes that you see one period a week?* I'm a hoarder. I need to clear stuff so I won't take so much along with me. :P Also, my books are a killer - I really have no idea how we're gonna store all of them at the new place!

Talking about the new place, it's coming up nicely! :D really very exciting! :) Some of the items we've bought have been delivered and is now sitting in their boxes in the hall. Stuff to go into the kitchen, up on the ceiling after the painting's done and the cabinets fixed. Ben's been working really hard on the new place - it's our Paradise! :) Lisa and Joyce have been excellent help too! :) Gosh, I don't know any other girls more industrious than the both of them! Most willing to help, and won't give excuses to skive. The world needs more people like them. :)

Went to Dr Yap's yesterday - our lil' one is a tall fella! :) He's about 1.5kg now, and has about 10 more weeks to go. Did a blood sugar test yesterday coz the urine test was just way past the darkest mark. :P Doesn't seem too good. :( Dr also gave me medication just in case the contractions I've been having get too strong. Yah, I've been having quite a number of irregular contractions, and it's rather uncomfortable at times. I didn't feel any Braxton Hicks contractions in my previous pregnancy, but this time round, it's quite a lot of them! I pray that this lil' one will be full term, and yet be able to deliver naturally, i.e. not too big. Abby was 3.72kg and 52cm when she was born, quite a huge lil' one! Head circumference was 36cm - *eeps* That's huge. I'm not sure how I'll be able to cope with my deadlines with this deadline so unpredictable, but I'll trust in God to make everything smooth! :)

Bits and Pieces of Thoughts

*We're back from Sydney. Well, we returned on the 1st January instead of the 7th as planned, and I'm glad I did coz they've been taking attendance for lessons! :P I'd have been stranded without mc or letter to cover my ass and get into trouble with MOE etc etc...

*Anyway, when we first got back home, I pretty much had temporary amnesia. I couldn't recognise our bedroom, walk-in closet and bathroom. I felt 'homesick' - home being in Sydney. I tried to recall how the rooms looked (in Singapore) was and couldn't really remember... all I had were just images of my aunt's place. After returning home, we created an area for Abby to play and sleep in. She was so excited when she saw it! :) I might post up some pictures after taking the area. :P

*Drove to school yesterday for 830am lesson, and felt really good and excited for the term. :) It's gonna be relatively shorter for me this term because my Lil' One will be coming out around March, so I've gotta get everything ready to welcome him! :) It's gonna be an exciting time! :)

*Met up with my two precious angels the last two days, and I'm glad that God's seeing them through very rough patches of their lives. I really pray that God will continue to reveal His will to them and they'll just indulge in His love and goodness because He's a loving heavenly Father! :)

*Went to Paradise on the day we touched down, and things are taking shape! :) The kitchen floor's done (love the tiles) and so's the lightbox (but some hiccups there). Have to paint the house (3-5days), fix the lights after changing the specs for the lightbox lights (2 days?), get the storeroom section railing fixed (1 day), gas heater and piping installed (1 day), kitchen cabinets up (3-5 days?), and laminate flooring laid (1 day). Still need to get wardrobes, microwave oven, fridge (many days :P). Other than these items and moving our existing stuff and delivering new stuff over (another X no. of days), we're almost done! :) Looking to the move before the Lil' One arrives but after CNY.

*My iBook's crashed on me many times after I returned from Sydney! :'( I forgot to remove the charger before I left and it's been charging eversince. But I realised that it crashes only when it's not being charged. I think something's wrong with the battery. Thank God I can blog now - meaning it hasn't crashed since I first started this post! :)

*Took Abby to the PD yesterday. She's been having this old man's cough in the mornings everytime she wakes up. Sounds phlegmy, but not productive (i.e. no phlegm). I remember asking a PD in S'goon abt this and she checked Abby but said everything was fine. Abby fell ill in Sydney - down with running nose and fever for a couple of days- and took her to the GP (had to pay A$50 coz we didn't have Medicare) but GP said it was just a common cold and was fine. Yesterday while I was in school Ben called me and said that he wanted to take her to the PD (at United Square - a much more reliable one - Dr Ong from Aglow) and I'm glad we did. Dr Ong checked - and told us she had mild bronchitis. *Eeeps!* No swimming, no citrus fruits, no cold drinks, dilute formula, minimise air-con @ nights. She had a round of the nebulizer by an extremely bubbly and enthusiastic clinic assistant - we were all exhausted by her energy! :P I'm glad she's much better now - we slept without aircon last night and hope that her airways will clear soon.

*Christmas was pretty eventful. Ben was supposed to arrive the evening of Christmas eve, but somehow missed the flight although he had checked in early! :'( I was close to tears - the first time I've hoped for something and was 'deferred'. He caught the next flight and was in Sydney early Sunday morning. Abby saw him and just snuggled into his neck. :) Took a video but will put up later after Ben uploads into my comp. Had a Christmas lunch prepared by auntie Mich and had a swim later in their pool. Had an accident then. Mattie was happily jumping into the pool - pretty much supervised by his dad, but he took the final jump without his dad looking -Mattie gave no warning whatsoever- and jumped right into his dad! Matt's upper tooth sank through his lower lip and into his dad's forehead. Both bleeding and in shock. It was scary. Aunt Mich handled the whole situation extremely well - she was super calm and took care of the both of them. Later, Matt wanted to return to the pool (after crying for a long time). Poor poor boy. Later, they named themselves Sorehead and Fatlips! What humour! :D