Little Random Details About Me

Another first for Charlotte. Her first flight... And we survived the plane ride with Charlotte. I was so relived when we landed. Charlotte was pretty good during the entire flight. Initially, we placed her in the bassinet. However the bassinet was too narrow for her liking. She was constantly hitting her face at the side of the bassinet, no matter how we moved her to the centre. So instead of sleeping on the bassinet, she slept on my lap for almost the whole journey. I felt uncomfortable for her but she was sleeping so soundly.  She only started to make some noise near the end of the ride but I managed to calm her down and latch her upon descending. So all was good in the end. This flight was also her first time on business class hah. But it is only for landing. It is SIA protocol that children below the age of 6 has to be seated in economy class. The crew was nice enough to move us to business class when we are descending so that we can alight earlier. Also, somethin...

The terror finally surrenders and sleeps... oops she's stirring as I am typing away now.. she lets out a scream!! *pause* (for 1 day) It is the time of the day again where she finally surrenders and sleeps...I can finally take a breather when she sleeps. Otherwise I would have to constantly entertain her even if she's not making any noise. Charlotte likes to be carried and she needs to be walked around all the time. But her attention span has definitely improved as the weeks passed. She can be left by herself for a slightly longer time now. Charlotte was in a pretty good mood yesterday when my cousins were here during lunch. She is happy whenever people keeps talking to her. However, I still think she is very unpredictable. She can be smiling at you this second and screaming away till she turns purple in the next second. Everyone has been telling me that there must be a reason for her crying. She could have a wet diaper, she's cold, she's hot, and the list goe...

Baby Charlotte Leow Yu Ting arrived on 24th October at 10.29am in the morning and she weighs 3.176kg. Everyone has been asking me, how was it giving birth? Before I forget like all other mothers (all mothers told me that I will forget about it eventually and have another kid), I think childbirth is scary. It is painful and couldn't take the pain thus I chose epidural in the end. I take my hat off all mothers who did it without. I do feel weak that I cannot take the pain but I really cannot imagine going through without it. The thought of going through childbirth again scares me at least at this current moment. Maybe I too will eventually forget about it. But before the time comes... let me just scare those who are going to go through it in future hahaha. I call Charlotte the terror in my life now. It gets traumatic when the child is brought home. She seemed like an angel in the hospital. Hardly crying much. See how sweetly she sleeps. She even sucks her own thumb when ...

Everyone is anxious and waiting! I have been receiving texts everyday asking me if today's the day. I am nervous and waiting for the slightest symptoms everyday too! We just had a checkup yesterday and I am 2cm dilated. According to the gynae, the baby should be due anytime within the week. However due to unforeseen circumstances, Derrick is supposed to go back to Moscow for 3 days on the 27th-30th October. It is preferable that daddy is able to spend at least a few days with baby when she's out. It doesn't seem very nice if baby is to be out on 25th and daddy needs to fly off on 26th night :( So our gynae suggested that I do a social induction on Fri so that the baby has some time with the daddy. A social induction takes about 12 hours. Currently I am scheduled to admit on Fri but of course we can still cancel it anytime. hmm.. we are still pondering over this. Derrick thinks we should just wait it out and let nature takes its course. Anyway it is not like I am overdue y...

Baby Charlotte is engaged which means that her head is in the down position, the position that we want her to be in for delivery! She's getting herself prepared to be out in this world :) Doc said baby is growing well and is weighing at 2.67kg now. Hopefully she'll hit about 3kg when she's out. Doc predicted another 2 more weeks till delivery. I'll be due for checkup again next week so I'll have an even clearer timeline. I even asked if it is possible for me to deliver without epidural and I was told to go in with an open mind hah. Doc said I can try first but most people cannot do it without epidural. Even she used epidural. Boo!! How encouraging haha. But I think I am still going to try without. Cross my fingers! I was given a print out of baby today. Check out that sausage lips hahah the nose is the one above. This pic is quite hilarious.

Baby is finally gaining more weight. She stands at 2.4kg as of today! Sadly, I have gained 2 more kg too. Just like what I have read online, in the final trimester, the baby is supposed to gain half the weight of what the mother gains. So on the previous checkup, I gained 1kg. Thus baby gained 0.5kg. For this check up. I gained 2kg. Thus baby gained 1kg. I am hoping she will not exceed 3.5kg on delivery? Sounds like a right size? I think I have gained enough weight for this pregnancy. A total of 11.5kg so far. Time to slow it down and wait for the delivery! Have been meeting up with these girls quite a bit these few days and we have been eating and eating! They are seeing my tummy and of course me, grow as the days pass heh Brunch @ Refinery Singapore. I love the food here. There are proper food instead of just eggs and toast. My beef don was yummy! Only $14. Of course they had the usual big breakfast ($26). Artistically presented. The girls that are watching me grow... ...

I can feel my tummy getting heavier and heavier. It is also growing bigger rapidly. I am not able to fold myself at yoga class anymore because my big belly is in the way. I am getting more clumsy at class! Not really sure why but my tummy feels especially heavy and hard at night, especially after dinner. I feel like I am carrying a super heavy bowling bowl around. On the other hand, baby is getting more active and starts to kick more vigorously. But it is not easy to catch her movement. Daddy was back in Singapore for 3 days and whenever I asked him to see or feel the movement, she will stop moving haha. She likes to move secretly. I always say we are an independent woman who do not take instructions from others and like to do whatever we want heh.

Went for my regular checkup on Monday. Everything is fine except that baby is a little small. It is only about 1.5kg now. The doctor suggested that I can eat a little more and sleep on my side so that the blood can flow to the baby. I have read that it is good to sleep on my left side but sleeping on the side has been a little uncomfortable for me due to the belly being in the while. In any case, I will still try my best. Next checkup in 3 weeks time. Hope baby gets a little bigger by then. I would also like to be able to view the features of baby. For the past 2 scans, she has been facing down. So shy! haha

I'm on my 30th week and according to babycenter, my baby is the size of a large cabbage. Just 10 weeks shy of my EDD. I'm getting a bit scared, mostly because of the pain. I get the impression that giving birth is really painful but there are many who are able to do so even without epidural. I myself came about with epidural so I am hoping to be one of those people. I just went for my glucose test this morning and the results will be out next week when I go for my regular checkup. Cross my fingers that my sugar level is within check. I did make a point not to consume too much sugar during my course of pregnancy. *** It has been a while since I met up with the girls and their partners. Everyone has their own busy lifestyle now. Most of them still highly focused on their career and upgrading themselves. Guess I'm the least ambitious. It doesn't really bother me for now though because I think I am still able to relate to what they are saying. Not sure if it will stay ...

This year marks SG50, the 50th birthday of Singapore. Derrick and I were back to celebrate this day with our nation. I am not much of a patriotic person but I am impressed by how Singapore can come this far in just 50 years. Singapore is so young! Not sure if I will be able to live to see SG100. I'll be 81 years old then haha. To commemorate the 9th of August 2015, I even carried out a special bag. Isn't it cute? It is a free bag given specially for this day. All public transportations were free on that day. So we took advantage of it and took a train to MBS to soak up some national day spirit.

I'm in my 3rd and final trimester. Only about 2 more months to go before I pop. Where did time fly too? I'm currently back in Singapore and will be staying till I pop. Der is back too but just for 1 week and we have been busy trying to settle stuff for our new place. We have finally settled on a contractor and have selected the tiles for our house. But there are still many many and never ending decisions to be made. As for baby, she has been growing well in my tummy. She is about 1.2kg now which is normal for a 28 week old baby. I have gained about 9kg and yet baby is only 1.2kg?! goodness... As usual, my problem with pregnancy is bad skin. Ever since I got pregnant, my belly has started to be quite hairy haha. It is no longer itchy now but I'm starting to have spots on my belly. According to my gyne, I have some hair follicles infection thus causing the spots on my belly. Her solution to me... just leave it. It's not that bad... My gyne really does not care about aes...

I'm on my 26th week today. My tummy is getting bigger and itchier as the weeks pass. I've been slathering a lot of moisturizer on it to make it less itchy. This weekend had been a great one. We managed to check out a new restaurant called "Twins" with a relaxing porch and also had a day trip out of Moscow city for a BBQ. The day trip was a trip to База отдыха “Троицкое ”- http://www.vtroickoe.ru/ . This place is called a recreational center where there are chalets, BBQ pits, a mini zoo, an area where one can play all kinds of water sports etc. Majority of the Singaporeans made it for this trip. For those that did not go were either uninvited or i dislike anyway hahah. So the group turnout was GREAT! We set off at 9am and took a 1 hr drive to the area. We had sooooo much meat for the BBQ, we even had leftovers to be continued for next week (another exciting weekend ;)). After the first round of BBQ, we went to check out the mini zoo. We brought some leftover pe...

3 more weeks before I return to Singapore. I have been feeling perfectly normal these days in terms of physical well being. Except that this week, I look like Bao Qing Tian hahaaa. I always have lots of issues regarding my skin and I wonder when will it ever stop. When I'm old and wrinkled? It's not funny but i just cannot help but laugh at myself. I look super sun burnt after using a detoxifying mask on my face. Derrick said since it's summer, I can just tell people I went sun tanning. boohoo... By the way, it's not a cheapo mask that I have used. It's an AESOP mask! I guess it's because my skin is too dry to begin with to handle such a harsh mask. Unlike in Singapore where I am perpetually oil. So i basically call myself Bao Qing Tian this entire week. Fortunately, it's getting better and I can start to party this weekend hahah. Movements of the baby can be felt more frequently these days. It's quite funny to see the tummy jiggle and wiggle. This hap...

I'm in the airport now, waiting for my flight to Moscow. My tummy is itchy and I can't stop scratching it. I can see a red spot now haha. Anyway, this will probably be my last flight back to Moscow. I got to be back in Singapore by Aug 3 for my checkup and I will not be able to fly by then. We do not have any plans for what is going to happen after I pop. Guess we will see how it goes. If everything goes well, baby might be able to see some snow next year haha. Since I am currently using up my last ticket for the year, I will have to wait till next year to utilise my new set of free tickets. Thus I will want to wait for next year before thinking of going back. Even so, our baby girl will be too young to remember anything. she might just be all wrapped up and being carried or pushed around in a pram haha. In the mean time, I can't wait to board the flight, sleep and wake up in Moscow to meet Derrick! 1 hr more to boarding and 1.5 hrs more to flight departing.. counting do...

I'm back in Singapore for my 20th week detailed scan with the gyne and this time, Derrick came along with me for the first time. It was pretty cool seeing every single part of the baby. The best part was hearing the doctor say... All is well! We also know the gender and we are having a girl! Derrick was hoping to see a little birdie haha too bad...When the scan moved on to the facial features of the baby, the doc even specifically pointed to us her "flat little chinese nose" and mentioned that "ang mo's nose will be much higher". That was her exact words. Boo hoo.. I wish my daughter will inherit Der's high nose bridge so that she can wear cool sunglasses. I can never find a pair of sunglasses that fits me due to my flat nose. In general, both the baby and myself are doing well so I am allowed to return to Moscow and miss my 6th month checkup. Will be back again in August and will have to stay here till the delivery. We are a no plan couple. We take th...

I've been following her on instagram for a while and I've been to her newly opened Buro Canteen here in Moscow. Her sense of fashion was what made me follow her in the first place. I am aware that she was in Singapore to meet the Buro 24/7 Singapore team but I didn't expect her to take the same flight with me back to Moscow. Hello Mira Duma! Despite the long haul flight, thanks for obliging to take a pic :)

I did my 16 week check up and the baby is doing well. I am such a klutz when it comes to the measurement and weight of the baby but just hearing the doctor say that everything is normal just made me feel at ease. I had so much more stomach discomfort in the past month that it got me worried sometimes. I guess it is normal to always feel something since there is actually something inside my tummy. Can't wait for the 20 week check up to know the gender of the baby. This time, Derrick will be going with me and I will see how "professional" he is at remembering all the weight and measurements that the doctor will say during the consultation. It will also be his first time seeing the baby through the ultra sound with his own eyes. Will be back in Moscow by this sat. I kind of miss my lifestyle there and of course poor Derrick who is all alone there.

My tummy is bulging these days because there is something living inside and it is this little fellow! But I personally feel that the bulge is because of all the food that is swimming inside due to my own gluttony. This little fellow is only 58mm at the current moment so i doubt it can create my current bulge hah. I still cannot imagine how I can contain a person inside me....

For this Italy trip, we covered the areas we have yet to cover in our previous Europe trip. Also, being in Moscow made flying over cheaper and much faster. There is a direct flight on S7 to Verona and we travelled to the other parts like Florence and Cinque Terre by the trains. The main point of this trip is to visit Cinque Terre as I have heard amazing reviews on the place from my friends. It sure did not disappoint us. We were awe struck upon entering our room. I couldn't stop taking pictures from the balcony even when the guy was telling us about the room. Cinque Terre is located along the coast of the Italian Riviera. Cinque means 5 in Italian. Thus there are 5 villages in Cinque Terre - Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. We chose to stay at Riomaggiore and we loved it! This place is not easily accessible by car so the train is the most convenient mode of transport. Fortunately at Riomaggiore, there is a lift to bring people up to the top. Upon...