Baby update

We visited the gynecologist today to see how Craig is doing and found that he's doing great. He's big and long compared to an average baby in utero his age. An average baby at 31 weeks weighs around 3.3 lbs (1.3 kgs) but Craig weighs 3.74 lbs (1.7 kgs)! No wonder I feel so heavy! He also has been extremely active moving around inside and often we can see his movements as my belly thumps and swells. Sometimes he punches and kicks so hard it hurts!

Meanwhile, his room is almost ready. The crib and changing table were delivered over the weekend and we're slowly but surely setting up Craig's room. We find it hard to believe that in less than 8 weeks' time, it will be 24/7 - Craig!   

Heavy and tired

I (I'Ching) am glad that the weekend's here. I've been feeling especially heavy the last few days and tire easily from simple tasks. Today, I napped for 15 minutes on the train coming to work! I suspect that this depletion of energy will continue till Craig is done with his mothership.

We have lots to do this weekend. We went shopping for baby's crib and other outstanding stuff last evening. His crib plus changing table will be delivered on Sunday. Hopefully by then we would have gotten our act together in having all his clothes washed and room ready for the furniture. I also need to think about packing my hospital bag...

Meanwhile, today, on my way to lunch, I spotted the following which may tickle you...

If you see something strange in the neighborhood, you'll know who to call:

Chivalry isn't dead, apparently

Pix credit: www.travelblog.org

It's just my observation so far and I could be wrong but I think men are more compassionate to pregnant women than women are! The number of men who gave up their seat for me on the train far surpasses the number of women who did the same. I'm pleased to announce that I did get seat today as a kind man stood up as soon as he saw me board the train.

Bus, trains and automobiles

I (I'Ching) started commuting to work from our new home last week. From a mere stone's throw away, now I live 20 minutes away (by car) from the office. There are three options for me: 1) train (30 mins) followed by bus (15 or so mins); 2) bus all the way (1 hr 20 mins); and, 3) taxi: 20 mins but costs $15 or more one way.

I took option one the whole of last week. It was wonderful the first two days as even though the trains were packed, I got a seat - as I'm pregnant. On trains here, there are a few seats designated "Priority Seat" sort of reserved for the elderly, expectant mothers and parents with young children. I say, "sort of" as there is a sign above those seats that read, "Please be considerate - give up your seat for someone who needs it more." So, this means, the occupant of the seat can decide to not be considerate and not give up his seat. A needy person, like my present-self, has no right per se to ask him to get up. In other words, it all depends on the civic-sense (some call it commonsense but I do question how common that is nowadays!!!) of the seat-occupant.

On the third day of my commute, I boarded the train as usual and moved right up to where the priority seats are. Lo and behold, the two ladies occupying those seats did not give a hoot to the fact that I'm 7-month pregnant and need the seat badly (before my feet bloat to size 15). One gave me a look and continued to enjoy her iPod while the other continued to read. I was tempted to ask them for their seat but I remembered a recent story about how a pregnant woman asked a man for his seat and he shouted at her saying that he has no reason to give her his seat: "Why do you deserve this more than I do?" he asked!!!

So, afraid that I'd be publicly humiliated like that poor woman, I decided to stand till someone else with a seat leaves. Thankfully, a few stops later, one of the two UNKIND ladies left and I took her seat.

The same happened the next morning... So, nowadays, I do not take for granted that I will get a seat on the train just because I am a loadful. Kindness can be so rare in this society...

On a cheerier note, we put up our Charlie Brown Christmas tree last night. We made spiced apple cider, listened to carols, put up the tree and afterwards watched A Charlie Brown Christmas on dvd. A wonderful end to my birthday...

Settling in...

As I'm logging this in, the joints of my hands hurt with every tap on the keyboard - thanks to baby Craig, my joints and feet are swollen. As we enter the third trimester, we are experiencing all the related symptoms warned on every pregnancy website. When we visited the gynecologist last week, the remark was that Craig is big for his 29-week age. His thigh bone measured 5.3cm. Since both Brian and I are not exceptionally tall, we reckon that it must be someone else in either of our family that Craig is taking after.

Since we arrived back from the US, we've been busy packing and moving and finally we moved into our new apartment end of last week. We are enjoying our new place thoroughly! We are mostly unpacked except for a few boxes that are still in Craig's room. Once we get those out of the way, we will start work on the nursery.

My mom and sister came over the weekend to help with the unpacking and it was really nice to have them as first guests at our place. As always, their visit entails much good food and shopping. We managed to squeeze in a home-cooked meal by mom which was wonderful! Nothing beats mom's cooking, huh?

Having tea at Ikea's Cafe with my mom

Hmmm... perhaps this evening we'll break out our Charlie Brown xmas tree...

Pix: Our first Christmas in Singapore in 2005

Baby shower

Family here in Maryland decided to throw us a baby shower on Saturday. It was a lot of fun - filled with gifts for the baby, good food, laughter and memorable anecdotes. As we won't be staying till Thanksgiving this year, the party was also kind of an early Thanksgiving celebration. In addition to the usual fare of turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, baby's Nana also got a very nice cake for the occasion:

Opening pressies after dinner:More onesies!!!Bringing home in our suitcases will be burp clothes, bibs, onesies, hooded towels, swaddling blankets, more bibs and soft cuddly toys. Thank you all!

Our week in Virginia

Our week in Virginia has just ended and we traveled up to Baltimore two days ago. As always, it was good to see family and catch up with what we've missed the last year. The only difference is that this year, our luggage is full of baby stuff instead of books and shoes and purses. Below are some random pictures from our time in Virginia.

Otis fooling around:

Home of some yummy bbq sandwiches:Best hotdogs around: Hotdog King

Our footlong hotdogs:

Witnessing history being written in Chicago

Our week in Chicago for meetings is over and I'm presently waiting for my airport pick-up at the hotel lobby. In fact, Brian flew out to his dad's (in Va.) early Monday morning and I join him there today.

Last night was quite a night as I witnessed the victory of Chicago's own homeboy, Obama, soaring against all odds to be the first African-American President of the US. While I disagree with his ideology, I must say that his success only proves that the US is indeed a country that deserves emulation. I cannot imagine how in anyone's lifetime a Chinese would be the Prime Minister of Malaysia. In that respect, in the words of my immediate boss, America is a great country! Both candidates fought hard and McCain conceded so graciously.

iPod vending machine at the JFK airport!

We flew into Chicago last Thursday night and Friday was Halloween. I remember some weeks back a friend asked me what Americans do on Halloween with those huge pumpkins we happened to see on sale in a supermarket in Singapore. Well, the picture below should give you an idea! I saw the two pumpkins on the counter of the coffee shop of our hotel. Apparently one of the hotel staff is a really artistic guy and he carved those faces on the pumpkins - pretty cool.The hotel we're staying at is right on Chicago's Magnificent Mile - Michigan Ave. which is lined with retails shops and brand names; something like Singapore's Orchard Road but more historical.

The Magnificent Mile at dusk:

We also ate much of the famous deep-dish Chicago pizza. Giordano's Pizza, which is two blocks from the hotel, serves up the best pizzas we've ever had! There is so much in the vicinity but we didn't do too much sightseeing as I'm beginning to find walking too long very strenous on my legs. Overall, we had a nice time here in Chicago.

Weekend in Melaka

We spent our last weekend in Melaka conducting sessions at our bi-annual training weekend. As a friend was visiting from the USA this time, we stayed two days longer than we usually do. Following are some pictures from our trip. As always, our visits to Malaysia entail lots of good food and this time was not any different. We also discovered a cafe run by some Malaysian Chinese but serves up the best pizza I've had. This will not be a long post as we're getting ready to leave tonight to the US.

The main entrance to an old Chinese association:

The fabulous wood-fire pizza place:

Great friends, great food:

I'm all bloated from the pregnancy!

Updates: Baby and apartment

We've two piece of good news: one, baby is doing great. We saw him on the ultrasound machine this morning and he was actively swimming and gulping in amniotic fluid! Not sure if the following scan pixs make any sense to you but basically the first one is a side view of him with his arm kind of over his head. The second one is a very faint frontal shot of his face. He was so much clearer and vivid on the scan machine screen.Second piece of good news is that we've found an apartment that we like. Located in the western part of the island-state, Clementi Heights is very accessible via the train and has all the amenities a family needs. Right behind the apartment blocks is a huge public swimming pool where we plan to bring baby to on a hot day. Now we can't wait to move into our new place and start setting up baby's room!

Dowry and infanticide

Photo credit:www.indian-baby-names-at-desimums.com

The last two weeks had been good for me (I'Ching) and I'm suspecting that the sunny second trimester of my pregnancy has finally arrived - yay! I've hardly any serious migraine though my sinus still bothers me (apparently stuffy nose is a part of pregnancy). As of today, baby is 22 weeks old and growing fast!

My short trip to India was uneventful - in a good way. As always, I met interesting people along the way, had great food... The driver who works for RZIM India, Jabasingh, was also getting ready to be a father while I was there (they have since gotten a baby girl, born on the morning after I left Chennai).

When I first found out about his then-expecting wife, I ignorantly asked if they knew the gender of the baby. Of course not! I was reminded that in India, they don't tell you what gender the baby is for fear of infanticide and abortion.

In India, males are favored over females for many reasons. Dowry is one. You see, when a male is of age, his parents would find him a suitable wife. Families of potential brides would then have to meet the demands of the groom's family - usually in terms of cash or big item gifts (furniture, electrical appliances, animals, etc). Though the demand and giving of dowry has been illegalized in India, it is still very much practiced. Sometimes demands from potential grooms are so high that families with girls have to work and save for years to afford marrying their daughters to a husband of fine background.

Due to this, parents prefer to have sons rather than daughters. I hear that in some rural Indian villages, if a girl is born, the baby would be abandoned and left to die. And, if they found out that the unborn is a girl, they would abort the baby (as is practiced in China!). This is inhumane but so commonly practiced! As such, the Indian government tries to curb it by banning doctors from telling parents the gender of their unborn.

So imagine how surprised my India colleagues were when I told them that I know I'll be having a son!

Beautiful boy

We went to the hospital for a detailed scan of the baby this morning. Unlike the routine scans we do at the doctor's, today's was to determine if baby's development is normal and all. Preliminary views seem to show that baby is normal - I was able to see his heart clearly, his mouth (this was to ensure there is no cleft palate), his feet, etc. The doctor had to measure his head, his foot, etc to see if they are growing normally. I am thankful to God and to all who prayed for us and our baby boy!

Brian was not allowed in with me initially - so only I saw most of the action. Baby was so active - he was moving around so much that it took the doctor quite a while to capture his face and foot. (By the way, from what I saw, I think he's got his daddy's flat feet and not my beautifully arched ones!) He was kicking and tumbling around inside endlessly. I first felt his movements a week back but they are getting more frequent progressively.

At 21 weeks old, he weighs 377 gms (13.3 ounces). We'll make sure to post some of the shots of the scan once we get them next week.

Meanwhile, on a totally unrelated note, some of you may find it odd to know that chicken feet is a delicacy here in Southeast Asia. The Chinese love 'em braised or stewed with mushroom while the Thais like 'em deboned in a salad.

My brave husband, after having tried them, said that they taste "okay" but it' too much work (ridding of the bones) for so little meat. He's right there but that's not really the point. Part of the fun in eating well-stewed chicken feet is in the great skill of deboning the feet in your mouth and then spitting out the bones. (This is easier demonstrated than described!)Anyhow, the reason why I'm bringing up the issue of chicken feet is that a few days ago, we passed by a restaurant getting the feet ready. There were hundreds of pairs of feet that were being deep fried! We thought some of you would get a kick out of the sight! Ah.., amazing Asia!

We're moving - again!!!

When we moved from our 3-bedroom, over 1,000 sq ft apartment to our current 2-bedroom 600+ sq ft place, we did not expect to be successful in having a baby so soon. But our needs have changed now that I'm almost 5-month pregnant. Other than the need for a baby room, we will require a guest room for the many family members who will be visiting once our son comes along (yes, it will be a boy!).

So, after having weighed all the options, we have decided that we'll move in December when both Brian and my schedule will be slightly freer. Besides, we would be traveling quite a bit from next week till the third week of November (India, Malaysia and then the US) and would not have the time to pack and move. We have started looking, though, for a larger place. With the economy dampening, we are hoping that rental would fall from its unreal height, making it possible for us to afford a decent place. Much awaits us in the next few months...

Current craving: Sweet and sour pork

(Image credit: www.pbase.com)

The last week saw me craving for sweet and sour pork. Much to the delight of Brian who loves this Cantonese dish, we've had it for dinner twice already in the last few days and I'm thinking that I'll have it again tonight for my dinner (I shall not subject my husband's palate to such torture!).

I continue to experience problem with my sinus and tension headache but today is a good day where I didn't have to start the day with a pain killer. As for my sinus problem, it has eased a little with the use of a nasal irrigation gizmo called the Neti Pot (click to read more). As we couldn't find it in Singapore, we had to ask our family back in the US to send us a set via express shipping (cost us a bomb!). We truly hope that with continuous use, it'll help alleviate my sinus problem.

Update on trip to KL: Friends and Food

It has actually been more than a week since we got back from Kuala Lumpur (KL) for a good friend's wedding and I've been dying to update the blog. But I've since been struck by a week-long bout of sinus-migraine (most likely aggravated by pregnancy) and the only thing I was able to do was lay in bed and groan in pain. Thankfully, the headache has eased a little the last 2 days and I've been able to keep the pain at bay with some caffeine-laced paracetamol.

Anyhow, we flew up to KL late Thursday (the one before the last) and were there till Monday evening. It was a good chance to catch up with our many friends there as we hardly get to stay longer than a day when we are there enroute to Ipoh. We stayed with good friends, Faith and Philip - haven't seen them in 2 years! Their dog, Twinkle, has grown so much we could hardly recognize her:Other than catching up with friends, we also (well, I, mostly!) caught up on all the Malaysian food I've been missing. Our hosts also took us out a couple of times for dinner and fed us to the brim!

First, they took us to this road-side hawker stall that cooks up really good fried noodles Hokkien-style (we call it, "Fook Kin Min," literally Hokkien noodles). This particular style of noodle and its preparation is rare outside of KL. The secret to its yummyness is the lard!

(1st image credit: hungerhunger.blogspot.com)

Then, we walked half a block down to another restaurant that sells Malay satay (yeah - from completely non-kosher food i.e. lard; to Muslim food!) for the second part of the dinner. It was the famous Kajang Satay ("Kajang" is the name of a suburb here in KL). I was so full from the noodles, I could only stomach two skewers of the succulent chicken satay before us. Brian ate so much that night that his stomach was as "pregnant" as my 4-month baby-belly!
The next time our hosts took us to dinner, we had more noodles but this time cooked in a claypot and a kind of rice noodle we call, "rat noodles" (as they look like a rat's tail). Brian also sampled for the first time the "stinky pea/bean" ("petai," in Malay). It's called that not because it stinks - in fact, it's reputed to have beneficial properties for one's kidneys; but because it causes your urine to stink! Brian claims that he couldn't remember having any stinky pee afterwards, though.

The small, round green things are the stinky beans:Look out for the next post on the wedding!