All Vinegared Up!

Mum, the greatest chef (in my opinion), came by to cook her famous vinegared ginger for my confinement last Sunday, filling the house with the wonderful smell of vinegar and sesame oil! This is a classic Cantonese dish for confinement and it is believed to help in expelling wind from the body.

So, let's start with the ingredients - sesame oil, black vinegar and 'Boon Tong' ginger (only available in Malaysia - all thanks to my brother who lugged back 5kgs for me and my parents who scrapped the skin off the ginger!) :



Preparing the vinegar - by adding brown sugar in it. I was the official taster and it is sooooooo good!! :



Frying the 'Boon Tong' ginger in sesame oil:




Transferring the fried ginger into the vinegar:



Viola! The vinegared ginger is done!



The ginger will have to be soaked in the vinegar for a few weeks, so that the vinegar will be spicy enough to do it's job - to expel wind! And usually by then, the ginger will just taste like any other vegetable/root... well, i can't wait to taste this yummy pot of good stuff! And of course, the pig trotters and egg that gets soaked together with the vinegar as well...

Yums!!

Bebe's first furniture!

Shared in an earlier post that we bought Bebe's first furniture which were delivered to us in quite a frenzy to avoid the 7th lunar month.. Hmm... a little superstitious - but better listen than regret right?! And i'm really glad that my mum was around to help me arrange the stuff when it was delivered.

So here it goes... presenting... Bebe's first cot and chest of drawers in Daddy & Mummy's bedroom! And, just to orientate you... my side of the bed will be closest to Bebe's cot... so no prizes for guessing who will wake up first to coo the little fella when he makes noise!


Bebe's cot (apologies.. have not 'dressed' it up with the bedsheet with lots of car/train prints (chosen by Grandma!) as yet..). Bebe's chest of drawers (which doubles up as a changing table/bathtub as well).



We also bought a cradle for Bebe... so that he can sleep with the confinement nanny at night. My mum's theory is that Bebe will sleep in the cot in the daytime (so that he will get comfy with his little bed) and sleep in the cradle at night. So that i can get some rest...

And, as an aside, my mum also bought a potty for Bebe!! She said that it is important to build it into Bebe's regime to sit on a potty even as a newborn (which was what she did with all 3 of us!), so that he will get used to doing his business in a potty next time! Well, it's all about inculcating the right habits in Bebe since young, which i'll be happy to follow!


Bebe's first potty!!

Hmm... watch this space for Bebe's first poo-poo!! Haha!

Bebe's first wardrobe

Finally managed to download pictures that I've taken in the last few weeks from my digital camera. So, presenting..... Bebe's first wardrobe!

Mum helped me to wash Bebe's clothings, leggings, socks, mittens, cap 2 weeks ago and i was so happy to see them when i went home one day and saw all of them nicely hung up for drying. It's so tiny and so cutey!


Bebe's socks (thanks to Auntie Daphne!), rompers and leggings (so cute right?!) !


Bebe's mittens, socks and caps!

Counting Down - 4 more weeks to go!

Had my consultation with Dr Chew yesterday, where he did the Group Strep B test and discussed the birthplan with me. The Group Strep B test is intended to test if i've Strep B infection which is harmless to adults but can cause pneumonia, meningitis in newborns. I've been asking friends who have done the test before if it is something like a papsmear and they said almost similar. So, i was all psyched up for an uncomfortable papsmear-like test and worrying about the possible side-effects, but it turned out to be a gentle swap with a stick with a cottonbud head. Well, the whole experience turned out to be ok just a slight discomfort. [hmmm, shall not go into the details:)] Will know the outcome of the test at my next consultation next Wednesday:) Hope it is ok coz otherwise i think i will have to be put on antibiotics to clear the infection.

Dr Chew also discussed the birthplan with me. He said that we will aim for normal delivery and said that Bebe will be quite a big baby but my physique should be ok to handle a baby over 3 kgs. I also asked him about Chee Meng cutting the umbillical cord and he said that Chee Meng can do it if he wants to, but he has seen husbands who fainted in the delivery room. I told Chee Meng about it last night that he can actually cut the cord, and he was like 'don't want lah...'. So, we shall leave it as such coz i don't want him to pass out! Haha! Dr Chew also said that he will leave it to me if i want an epidural and shared that he had a patient who asked for an epidural when she was 7cm dilated, which is technically too late and won't do much to relieve the pain:)

Dr Chew also said that i should check myself into the hospital if (i) my waterbag breaks, (ii) have any form of bleeding or (iii) feel any pain at regular intervals. He also explained when he will need to do a c-section during labour, ie, if (i) there are signs of foetal distress, (ii) waterbag breaks, (iii) increase in blood pressure, or (iv) no progress in labour.

Dr Chew was also visibly pleased when i told him that i will put Bebe on total breastfeeding for at least 6 months. He taught me to start preparing my breasts for the moo-moo experience - to place cotton wools soaked in warm water over the nipples for 15 minutes before shower and then clean it with a mild cleanser after shower, followed by a gentle massage. He said that this should unclog the nipples and that i should not worry if i should experience leaks in colostrum while doing so. I also asked him that i was told we should not massage the breast too much/forcefully as it may trigger contractions. He just said that it would be good if we can trigger contractions so easily:) He's quite funny.

Well, it's just another 4 more weeks to go and i should say that i'm about 60% done in preparing the necessary stuff for Bebe. Much of the preparations should go to my mum, who has been washing little Bebe's clothings, socks, mittens and everything else. I took some pictures of Bebe's laundry the other day and they are so tiny and cute! Will attempt to post some of the pictures over the weekend. But, the greatest thing that's happening this weekend is that my mum will prepare her famous pig trotters & ginger in vinegar! According to her, the vinegared ginger will need to be be soaked/kept for a month so that it has the desired effect of expelling wind from the body! Yums - this is one dish that i'm looking forward to during confinement:)

Diabetically Free!

Was given the all-clear of gestational diabetes by Dr Chew during a medical consultation on Tue. What a relief! He said that it was most probably a case of me taking too much starchy food before my blood sugar test earlier. But he said that he will continue to monitor me closely and i will have to do my blood sugar test again next week. Just to be safe. Well, on my part, i've been consciously cutting down on carbs as well:)

Dr Chew also told me that he will be doing a Strep-B test next week and will also discuss the birthplan with me. Well, i asked Chee Meng if he will want to cut Bebe's umbilical cord after delivery and he seemed a little queasy. Chee Meng said that Mrs Wong (our ante-natal class trainer) said that fathers no longer had that option, though i'm not sure if it was the case. Maybe he's just chickening out... haha... but it will be such a nice thing for Chee Meng to do, afterall, Bebe is so precious to us:)

I was also relieved that Dr Chew is very pro-breastfeeding. Dr Chew contributed an article in Mind Your Body yesterday which talked about the merits of breastfeeding. I am a believer in breastfeeding, coz i think it's the best thing a mother can provide for her child. Incidentally, the Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE) also projected a savings of a couple of hundreds of dollars in milk powder if a mother choose to breastfeed her child. Wow! That's quite a lot of money! But money aside, the important thing is that formula feed can never replace the quality and nutrients found in breastmilk. I am all set to be a moo-moo once Bebe is born:)

I'm now down with a pesky running nose and sore throat which made me rather lethargic.. hope it goes away soon!

Simply glucose

Did my glucose tolerance test yesterday morning and luckily it did not turn out as bad as i expected it to be. Thanks to google, i read some postings that some women actually vomit after drinking the glucose drink coz it was too yucky. But it actually tasted like flat Fanta Orange and actually quite nice. The not so nice part about the test is the waiting time and the 3 bloodtests. Ok, just to share in greater detail:

I arrived at the Gleneagles lab at about 8.45am (had to fast from 12 midnight) and was promptly attended to. I had to provide a urine & blood sample to track the sugar level while i'm fasting. Thereafter, i had to finish up a bottle of orange-flavoured glucose drink within 5 mins which was not too difficult as it was not as yucky as i imagined. Then i had to stay within the lab premises for the next 2 hours (there goes my ambitious plan to shop around Guardian pharmacy for magazines etc while waiting) without any food or drink. I read internet postings about drawing blood samples in the 1st and 2nd hour after drinking the glucose drink, but i was also to provide urine samples as well. Luckily my bladder cooperated:) haha.

Ok, back to the test. My first urine/blood sample was taken at about 9.07am and i was asked to return to the counter at 9.55am to do my urine sample and at about 10.05am to do my second blood test. Then repeat the process at 10.55am and 11.05am. The urine sample was easy, but i was alternating between arms for the blood test, until the 3rd test where the lab technician said that she would find another vein to draw out the blood. So now i have 3 little needle-marks on my arms:)

So at 11.10am, i finally could get food! And Bebe moved a little less yesterday morning, most probably coz i was just doing nothing and did not ingest any food. He only moved about 65 times from 9am-2pm - and i think i counted less coz i was so preoccupied with food (after being deprived of it for almost half a day!!!). But since it's more than half compared to the previous day (ie, 90 movements), there is no cause for worry:) Bebe also moved a grand total of 108 times from 4-9pm yesterday! I didn't record the movements for the previous day as i was in a meeting and i could not multi-task (ie, speaking and counting)..

Well, i will have to wait till next Tuesday to find out if i have gestational diabetes (hopefully not!) when i see Dr Chew. Till now, i'll have to watch my diet and cut down on carbohydrates. Luckily i'm not crazy about chocolates otherwise it will be a bit tough..

Hope will have good news to share next Tue/Wed!
Wish me luck!

Sugar, sugar... honey, honey

Had my blood sugar test yesterday and the reading came up slightly high (13.1 vs the normal reading of 12.5). Dr Chew ordered me to go for a glucose tolerance test tomorrow to find out if i have gestational diabetes or just because i had too much starchy food. Well, i had a packet of rice and fruits (kiwi and rockmelon) during lunch and maybe that contributed to the higher readings.
I certainly hope so!

Dr Chew also found that my iron level is low (10.3) though i've been stuffing myself with those iron tablets daily. Apart from feeling a little light-headed, i'm generally ok. So not sure if this is a cause to worry about but i think i'll just take it easy else it will be too stressful. Hmm... will just take it as it comes!

Dr Chew also asked me to count Bebe's movements, from 9am-2pm and from 4-9pm. Basically, the idea is that if the no of movements between days falls to more than 50%, i should call the doctor immediately coz it may well be a sign that Bebe is having a low supply of oxygen. So, now i have a counter next to me, so that i can count the no. of movements. Well, from 9am till now (11am), i've recorded about 37 movements. But i suspect the counter is a little wonky, coz the number jumps quite a bit in between pressings.. well, let's monitor and compare the results over the next few days. I'm also been taught by another friend to 'channel' the oxygen into my belly for Bebe:)

Hope everything turn out well tomorrow!