Dum dee dum STILL WAITING

Our little baby boy is still not out yet.

Am now 41 weeks and 2 days.
Will see Dr Chong 2mrw and he will start induction by sweeping the membranes.

After the drama of last week (trying to sort out JF's flights was a nightmare cos the Turkish SQ office was CLOSED THE WHOLE BLOODY week thanks to the Bayram (Hari Raya Haji) and SQ in Singapore codn't get in touch with them AT ALL) we had to lose both JF's air tickets and he thankfully sorted his work schedule and got his boss blessing to stay on with me in SG till baby comes. PHEW.

He was supposed to leave on 12 Dec and back again in SG 22 Dec. So now he's staying right thru til 3 Jan.

We have tried everything over the past week that's supposed to induce labour:

1. Spicy Food (had Indian food, nasi lemak with super hot sambal, more curry, fresh cut chill....)
2. Lots of walking & squatting (gravity helps) and rolling on my birth ball
3. Eating a TON of pineapple
4. Religiously drinking Clarysage tea (thanks Jana!)
5. Almost 2 litres of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea everyday (damn heng that I like the taste of herbal teas)
6. Pressing acupressure points
7. Massage
8. Singing, talking to baby, telling him to come out
9. Other stuff!!

Schirin (who was due 16 Dec) was the first one in our Hypnobirthing group to give birth.
And last week Lori had her son Caleb on 12 Dec.

This morning, reading Lori's birth story on her blog was very encouraging...she had a short, easy, comfortable birth just liked Ginny said was possible :) And they went for a waterbirth too.

Hope Julien will come just as easily and quickly.

Baby Baby WHERE ARE U?

Ok I am officially GAN CHEONG.

Julien Andre Chassin where are U??
U were supposed to be born 2 days ago on Saturday. That's right, you are ripe, well-cooked, and ready to pop out.

Hmmm....I guess U think the room service is too good inside Mummy's 7-star luxury hotel huh?

Well my little boy, it is time to check out! Mummy feels like she is lugging around a very big watermelon, and Daddy REALLY wants to see U before he has fly off this weekend.

Please come out! We're trying to do everything to help U.

Everyone is anxiously waiting for you and Mummy is REALLY XIAN of everyone asking! (Hint hint if U people see me with a bump, I am still OBVIOUSLY PREGNANT...DUH!!!! So don't say things like "Still not out yet ah?" Not constructive peeps!!)

Fingers crossed...come out today!

Counting Down!

Baby's hatch day is getting closer...and I'm nervous and excited all at once! Have been back in my home sweet home for 3 weeks now and enjoying being with my family, Bloss Bloss and scarfing down all the yummy & nutrious food I've been missing! I swear I can eat tau huay and fish porridge every single day!

Started HypnoBirthing classes with Ginny (who is also going to be my doula) 2 weekends ago and really enjoying it. Find it a lot more useful than the Birthing From Within Classes we did with Julia in Istanbul. While Julia's classes were fun (we did a lot of drawing with pastels!) and eye opening, they were very hippie touchy feel-y and not practical enough I felt. Whereas the HypnoBirthing classes have helped me to focus a lot. Really recommend them to every mum-to-be!

Slight panic last week when I found out my SG OBGYN Dr Paul Tseng was going to be away near my delivery date!! The panicky thing was he didn't tell me! I just overheard another patient talking to the receptionist while I was waiting to see him.
So I asked him who would replace him, and he said for births at Mt Alvernia, it would be Dr Beh. Consulted Ginny and she said Dr Beh may not be as open to my birth plan as Dr Tseng.

ALAMAK! Why do gynaes always do this? Ok I understand docs also need time off, but the least they could do is inform their patients as a common courtesy right?? I don't like the fact that I found out by accident and he didn't tell me. I remember June saying her doc was also away last minute near DN's birth, so Dr TC Chang had to step in.

So I was very gan cheong trying to find another doc who WOULD be around. Finally settled on Prof. Chong Yap Seng at NUH bcos Ginny said NUH is the best place in SG for waterbirths (which is what we plan to do). NUH is the only hospital in SG that has birthing tubs in every alternate delivery suite. Was also quite surprised that all the fees (both docs and hospital fees) are much cheaper at NUH. The only thing is, it's pretty far from my home. But JF says no where in Singapore is far....just that we're so used to short distances here.

We decided a waterbirth would be great for us cos we both are natural water babies, love swimming, diving etc and feel at home in the water. Waterbirth is also a very gentle birthing method for the baby bcos they have been living in water for 9 months. I want a natural birth without any drugs, so no epidural for me. (Here's where the HypnoBirthing relaxation and breathing techniques come in for pain relief!)

Have been busy gathering baby essentials and Mummy even inspired (and helped) me to make mittens! Ok lah I suck at sewing, but these are not bad rite?? (Thanks to Mummy's help too!)



Next I am going to attempt to make a Baptism gown if I can!! Heheh so ambitious eh?

In the meantime, I'm still driving (surprise surprise I can still fit behind the steering wheel! PHEW!) and wadling about town looking for baby stuff. My little Julien is wiggling about so much too! The funniest feeling is when he has hiccups almost immediately after I eat. (Hahah just like Mummy and Daddy who love yummy food and eat too fast!) It feels so funny in my tummy! Hic hic hic!

CONGRATS TO ZERNERD who also recently announced they have a little sugarbug on the way!! YIPPEEEEEE!!!

Miss JF and Cookie SOOOOOOO much even though I see them on Skype often. Can't wait til JF gets here.

Baby Shower Wish List

My friend Heather wanted to throw me a baby shower here before I go home in 2 weeks.
But there simply isn't enough time because all my friends are away at the moment due to the week-long Bayram holiday.
Also baby showers are a pretty American concept, and I've only ever been to one in my life...the one we threw for Christy in May this year. (it was really fun with GREAT food I got catered by another friend, Ayse)
Wonder if anyone will throw me one in SG?

Anyway Heather was talking about typical baby shower gifts and she said she was surprised that most people here almost ALWAYS give clothes as baby gifts. After all, new parents are already SWAMPED with clothes as gifts, and often the baby grows too fast to even wear them.

Heather said that in the US, friends and family usually get stuff that the new parents would REALLY need, like a Pack n Play foldable cot or a Diaper Genie.

Diaper Genie? What's that? It was the first time in my life I heard that term. Well, she explained what it was, and WOW! I'm impressed! ALL NEW PARENTS SHOULD GET THIS! How come no one EVER told me this existed?

Here's how it works: (from Wiki)

"Diaper Genie, a creation of entrepreneur John Hall, is a baby diaper disposal system. The unit consists of a large plastic container with a plastic lid. The system seals diapers individually in a scented film to protect against germs and odors. By opening the lid on the top of the canister, a soiled diaper may be inserted into the "mouth" of the container. After inserting the diaper, the lid is replaced and twisted 3 full rotations to seal the diaper inside. After the container is filled with dirty diapers, it can be emptied by unlatching the bottom of the canister, where the diapers fall out still individually sealed."



How cool is that??? An easy clean way to deal with stinky poopy nappies.
Considering that new babies need to be changed 10-12 times A DAY for the first few months, this is GREAT!
It retails for about US$50 in the US. How come this isn't widely available elsewhere?
Definitely never seen one in Turkey, or France or even Singapore for that matter.

So if anyone wants to get us one as a baby gift INSTEAD of clothes, PLEASE DO!
Getting hold of the refiil bags is another issue....but I was told you could sorta work it out with regular trash bags.

So start hunting this down for me folks!

Good Parenting

Scary how more and more foodstuff from China is toxic.
First killer dog food and instant noodles made with motor oil, now baby milk.
I wonder how many White Rabbit Sweets I've eaten in my lifetime? As a child, the little rice paper wrapping was a constant source of fascination for me. Hmmm....that could explain the overall weirdness of my cousins and I!! White Rabbit Sweets have been slowly altering our mental states all these years! If only our parents knew....

Speaking of parenting, here's a good baby care guide for all mums n dads to be! Hee hee hee!

ATTACK BY EVIL ALIEN CREATURE!

Today we came under siege by an EVIL ALIEN CREATURE with SHINY GREEN EYES! Eeeeeks!

I was sitting happily in our bedroom, listening to Baby Einstein Mozart CD (very soothing!) and writing in my baby journal when this thing WHOOSED in. (The balcony door was open cos it's so hot)

It zipped around like crazy! So fast that I couldn't really see it clearly. But because it was bigger than a moth or a bee, I thought it might be a HUMMINGBIRD. I had seen cute little hummingbirds before around the lilac bushes near the pool. Always wished I had my camera, but usually I was swimming at the time.

Suddenly the creature flew up to the ceiling and into the hole at the base of the light fixture. (Yes, til today the gaping holes made by the useless people who installed the lights more than a year ago have never been fixed! HMMMMMMPH!)

Anyway, I quickly closed all the doors and windows and rushed downstairs (as fast as a 6.5 month pregnant woman can waddle!) to grab my camera and zoom lens.

When I got back into the room, the creature was hiding in the hole and REFUSED to come out. I think I waited about 45 mins but it didn't budge!

OK nevermind, so I go downstairs again to Google HUMMINGBIRDS. Didn't I read somewhere that they need to eat every hour so they don't die? Cos they have the highest metabolic rate in the world. (all that fluttering about flowers).

I came across an article called HUMMINGBIRD RESCUE and it described how to rescue hummingbirds trapped indoors. Also I thought it might be a good idea to hang a cup of sugar water out so the poor thing wouldn't starve.

Armed with my sugar water, I get the ladder and climb up to hang it on the light. Waited 10 mins but the creature still didn't emerge. Suddenly I got the idea to tap the ceiling with a mop stick.

Sure enough, it flew out!! Grabbed my camera and started snapping! On closer look, IT WASN'T A HUMMINGBIRD! It was......this!













What in the world is THAT? My overactive, pregnancy hormone-driven imagination tells me it's an ALIEN SPY SCOUT sent to monitor us earthlings (So I recently finished reading The Host!)

Or could it be Oberon in disguise? Come to survey my mortal baby?

Anyway, the THING flew back into the hole and IS STILL THERE!

Aaaah the musings of a very pregnant, rotund writer. :)

Ladybird Books - the UN-PC version!

Do U remember reading Ladybird books when we were kids?

Peter & Jane and all that? I loved those!

Well take a look at THESE!!!
They are so un-PC they made me howl with laughter.
Boy, this must be the work of a very bored AD with too much free agency time on his/her hands ;p





Read the rest of the book here:
http://seorant.ath.cx/police/ladybird.html