27+ week checkup

Went for another midwife checkup at the GP this morning...

We had the privilege of seeing two midwives at one go: a professional British midwife and another midwife intern from Germany. After the routine blood pressure and urine sample check, I got up to the bed for the midwives to have a feel of Bambino through my tummy... YL loves this part as he gets to hear Bambino's heartbeat again.

The midwife intern tried to listen to Bambino's heartbeat through this silver micro-gramophone look-a-like equipment, which didn't seem to work very well...she gave up on that and went for the electronic doppler instead which yielded some sound, but she said that those were the sound of the umbilical cord, etc. She commented that Bambino was moving a lot resulting in her having problems locating his heart!! The professional midwife took over and after some adjustments, finally managed to track Bambino's heart and that familiar strong "boom boom" sound once again resonated through the room!

I asked her where Bambino's head and bum is and after some very professional caressment of my tummy, she located his head and butt (he was once again head down and butt up, diagonally across my tummy). She mentioned that he seemed extremely active and said that she wouldn't be surprised if he somersaulted himself the other way by the afternoon! (In YL's quantum physics research term, this is known as a "spin flip".)

Indeed, I feel that Bambino is getting more and more active....his kicks have been stronger these days. Also, i think he is developing that quirky sense of humour that YL had hoped for... Now, whenever i feel him move and tell YL, and YL puts his hand on my tummy, instead of following YL's hand, Bambino would stay quiet! But when I put my hand back on my tummy, he would resume his activity again! Haha...he's playing hide-and-seek with his Daddy!

Pee-ti-full !!!

Soon entering into the third trimester (last one...yay!)...

Bambino's having lots of fun jumping up and down on my bladder...
therefore have to consciously be on a look-out for the nearest loo...sigh!

Hiking up the Malvern Hills

The Welsh side

We went up the Malvern Hills today....YL could only drive up mid-way and we have to track up to the summit.

After a very good lunch of gourmet beef burger at a local hotel, YL drove to the nearest carpark. We then tracked very slowly through a gentle gradient track, as I was feeling rather heavy (due to the yummy lunch and ever-growing Bambino). The hike was well worth it when we reach the summits. We could see Wales on one side and on the other side we could see England. It was beautiful! :)

Fossil Hunting at Jurassic Coast

YL fossil-hunting along the Jurassic Coast

YL's a romantic.

Today, he has decided that we should go "fossil hunting" at Lyme Regis along the Jurassic Coast. After a long drive of about 2 1/2 hours, we finally arrived at the Southern coast of England. After a yummy late lunch of seafood, YL immediately joined in the many other beach-combers, hoping to chance upon a jurassic age fossil. The idea was definitely romantic, but alas, he was not equipped with tools to open up the many rocks and stones on the beach to check out if there were any hidden fossils within. Of course, I doubted whether there would be any significantly whole fossils left for him to find, but like they say, you've just got to go along and be a supportive spouse! After about an hour of futile search, we decided that we would be better off visiting the fossil shop 'cum' mini-museum just up above the beach. Finally, YL got to feast his eyes to contentment on these aged fossils... :)

Psalm 139

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

(Psalm 139:13-16)

I always make it a point to read and meditate through the whole of Psalm 139 from the bible on my birthday. Verse 13-15 provides the beautiful imagery of God as a skilled and thoughtful craftsman at work. He had painstakingly created me as one of his masterpieces 31 years ago, and is in the midst of creating and developing Bambino in my womb as another of his masterpiece!

The psalm too celebrates God's plans for us and his comforting presence and fellowship with us as we walk our lives. Till this day, the master craftsman continues to mould me (mending all the dents that I have inflicted upon my character!) to become what He intended me to be.

I like how the psalm ends:

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

(Psalm 139:23-24)

As me and YL prepare ourselves for parenthood, may God help us to deal with any anxieties, knowing that He is faithful and will guide us to be good parents to Bambino, and in the process better appreciate the love of God as a Father to us.

p/s: Thanks YL for the three sunflowers (he says, "one to symbolise me, one to symbolise you and one to symbolise Bambino!") and the special meal of yummy vietnamese beef pho that you'd created...! Thanks Dad and Mum for sending me the birthday e-cards, one from you guys and one on behalf of Bambino!! :)

Bambino's alternative music exposure

Made a day trip to Peak District today! YL was superb, driving so many miles there and back!

Thank God for the fine weather that we had. The whole trip was most enjoyable. I even managed to walked up to the middle of a small hill. I encouraged YL to walk all the way up to the peak by himself, whilst me and Bambino enjoyed the freshness of the air, the beautiful scenary and the "baaah-ing" of the sheeps around...

We blasted U2 songs, Jay Chou's songs and Sun Yanzi's rock songs on the car's cd player as we drove...it was fantastic! And we realised that this was the first time we have "exposed" Bambino to so much alternative music other than the classical music that we've been playing at home. I think Bambino felt truely excited by this new experience...he was "bouncing up and down" in the womb throughout the day. :)

Backache

Suddenly had a very bad backache today... will elaborate more later...

We collected a cool orange Kia car from Budget Car Rental, having rented it for a whole week. YL planned to relax for the week ahead (having just submitted his thesis to the examination board), so decided in the spur of a moment to rent a car so that we can spontaneously go anywhere we want!! With the luxury of a car, we decided to eat out and go grocery shopping at the Oriental City! YL wanted to buy "posh" food ingredients such as shabu shabu rib-eye beef slices as he wanted to cook a special meal for me on my birthday! I also managed to buy 4 fresh razor clams (so cheap, they were so big and fresh and cost only 4 pounds in total!) and fresh sardines, so that I can cook him a special dinner for the night.

Anyhow, he ate authentic singaporean chicken rice, whilst i ate my authentic Malaysian beef rendang nasi goreng at the big food court (probably London's closest singaporean-style foodcourt). The food was most yummy but gave me heartburnt! And worse, I suddenly developed a severe attack of backache on the way back from Oriental City. On reaching home, I just had to lie down on bed, and had great difficulties finding a comfortable position to stay still. I felt like being hammered on my back repeatedly! YL tried to give me a massage rub down on my back, but it made little difference physically. However, I was so glad emotionally to have him there to just soothe me with his presence and comfort! We just kept praying that God will quickly take the pain away.

YL was saying that seeing me like this, it really reminded him how 伟大 women are to go through such pain and discomfort in the whole child-bearing process. He then said, "When I call home tomorrow, I must remember to thank my mum for having gone through all these pain to have me!" His comments really made me smile! :)

Thank God, the pain did ease after a few hours of bed rest. I then insisted on cooking dinner despite my aching back, which resulted in a sumptuous meal of steam chilli garlic razor clams and grilled sardines! Dinner was accompanied by a live TV telecast of an awesome recital of Beethovan's Nineth Symphony (Ode to Joy) by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choral at the Royal Albert Hall. The endorphins released by yummy food and a wonderful piece of music further erased the pain! Praise the Lord! :)

Prayers are very important for pain relief, but endorphins created by a yummy meal may also help! :)

Sen's suggestion of chinese name for Bambino

Had a superb Korean meal at Arang Restaurant with our good friends Sen and Emily on Friday night, in celebration of YL submitting his thesis to the examination board.

Earlier, we had asked Sen to help us brainstorm of possible chinese names for Bambino. Having given it some thought, Sen took the opportunity to share with us his suggestion:

林乐扬

According to an online chinese-english dictionary:
the meaning of 扬 [yang2] = /hurl/to raise/to scatter.

As such, a literal translation of the name 乐扬 would mean scattering/raising joy.

We really do like the suggestion a lot.

Firstly, the name has got a 'bright' ring/tone to it!

Secondly, the way we saw it, if we take 扬 to be the short form of 宣扬 (xuan1 yang2) which means 'proclaiming', the name 乐扬 would mean proclaiming joy! To us, it would mean to be proclaiming the Joy of the Lord!

YL's earlier post had also explained that he had decided to name Bambino Isaac, in the hope that Bambino would appreciate laughter. As such, the name 乐扬 would certainly complement the meaning of his english name, i.e. to proclaim and spread the joy that comes from knowing God!

We love it! Must remember to tell YL's dad about Sen's suggested name when we call him long-distance later! :)



p/s: Sen - Thanks a mil! Regardless of whether 乐扬 is finally chosen as Bambino's chinese name, do know that we are very touched by your thoughtful suggestion. Oh yes, and thanks a lot for your gift to Bambino - "Classics for children"! We've already been playing it on and off for Bambino to listen... :)

I want you to appreciate laughter...

My dear Bambino,

After much thoughts and prayers, I have decided to name you Isaac because I want you to appreciate laughter. You are a miracle and a sign from God that He is faithful to His promises to me and your mummy. God will do incredible things for us and through us, so much so that people will rejoice and laugh with what will happen. (Gen 21:6)

"It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring." Romans 9:7-8. In the bible, Issac is a child of promise from God to Abraham. And you are a promise from God to me... I hadn't told your mummy this before, but I did prayed for a son as my first-born. :)

I pray that you would be joyful and bring laughter to many people.

I would love you to grow up happily and, God willing, even have a quirky sense of humour!

And so, your name shall be Issac Lim or Yitzkhak Lim, whichever you prefer to call yourself! :)

With all my love,
Daddy

p/s: Amen!! May our journeys with one another as a family and with God be always filled with much love, much joy and much laughter, in all circumstances... Love, Mummy. :)

pps: This post was posted whilst your Daddy was helping mummy to squash bananas to bake banana loaf again, closed to midnight!! Daddy loves to eat banana loaf for breakfast! :)

he shall be called "Isaac"...

...so says Bambino's dad!

After much thoughts and prayers, YL has decided to name his soon-to-be born son Isaac Lim. We have not decided on his chinese name as we would like YL's dad to name him.

There is this interesting website that we came by called "The Baby Name Wizard's Name Voyager", whereby one could find out the popularity of most english names. See the image below on the popularity of the name "Isaac".

YL will soon follow-up with a short entry on his reasons for choosing to name Bambino 'Isaac'.

:)

Food Cravings

I've mentioned before that thankfully I didn't have much food cravings as a result of the pregnancy, because most of the food that I would crave for can only be found back home in Singapore! (e.g. durian, chilli crab, dried mee pok, etc...)

But then again, I thought I will document down some of the food that I've subconciously developed an inclination for and would and could keep eating them again and again whilst in London during this period of time:

a) Breakfast Milk (from Jersey and Guernsey herds)
- Since young, I've really dislike freshmilk and often have to mix it with honey to give it a sweeter taste and less "raw feel"... this was until we discovered this brand of breakfast milk that YL would buy from Waitrose. The description on the label describes the milk as "The champagne of milks! Breakfast Milk comes from fully traceable, pure bred herds of Jersey and Guernsey cows and is naturally high in calcium and protein..."

b) Ben & Jerry Cherry Garcia Ice Cream
- Loved it, loving it...

c) Loh Bak
- I keep making this at home for dinner (nearly once every week!)...Loh Bak (pork cook in dark sauce and various chinese spices in pressure cooker till really tender) with tao pok, chinese mushrooms, and whole hardboiled eggs.... yum!! Thankfully YL loves the gravy and doesn't mind eating it for dinner every other week!

d) Xiao Long Bao (小龙包)
- I've been craving for this for a long time, and thanks to my dear gourmet cousin Aileen who's also here in London, I've been recommended this restaurant in Chinatown called The Chinese Experience, which is apparantly one of the best place in London to get authentic hot steamy Xiao Long Bao. Ate it last friday with her, and it was most yummy, each bao retaining much of its soupy juice within. Yum!! 1 basket (8 pieces) of Xiao Long Bao costs GBP5.80 though. Yep, its not cheap, but now i've got its 10% discount card...yay!!

e) Clementines
- The bags of small easy-to-peel clementines that we get from Waitrose are refreshingly sweet, bursting with juice and full of vitamin C and folic acid. I've been consuming at least 4 of these clementines daily!

f) Vietnamese Pho
- Have craved this for a long time (especially the ones from Cay Tre and Song Que 'cos of their really delicious broth) but still haven't had time to get there... must go soon!

Regular checkup at the clinic + Hearing Bambino's heartbeat!

In Singapore, one basically sees the gynaecologist all the way throughout the pregnancy, sometimes once every month, if you can afford it. The key here is that we pay to see the gynae.

On the other hand, being in London for the large part of our pregnancy with Bambino has allowed us to experience the oh-so-good and FREE NHS maternity system.

I've already explained in my earlier post that in UK, one primarily deals with the midwives (rather than gynaes) for all our checkups, tests, and pregnancy queries, unless one's pregnancy is diagnosed to be problematic, or when one is about to give birth. This is not surprising, considering that the system is free-of-charge and resources such as gynaes need to be distributed according to the level of complication of the pregnancy. Having said that, I think that the midwives here are generally very professional, reassuring and as capable as gynaes in dealing with most general antenatal conditions.

The system's workload is split between the hospital's maternity department and the General Practices (i.e. clinics). For a typical problem-free pregnancy, the antenatal checkups are as follow:

• First booking Checkup : Hospital
• Level 2 Detailed Checkup (21/22 weeks) : Hospital
• 24th week : General Practice
• 28th week : General Practice
• 30th week : Checkup at General Practice + Bloodtest to be done in Hospital
• 32th week: General Practice
• 34th week: General Practice
• 36th week : Hospital (Detailed checkup)
• 38th week: General Practice
• 40th week: General Practice
• 41th week: Hospital

What happens is that every two weeks, midwives would be dispatched to the local (non-private) General Practices and conduct antenatal clinics. So all I need to do during those odd weeks would be to visit my local clinic to have my urine sample checked (for sugar level), blood pressure checked, as well as for the midwife to physically feel my abdomen to determine if the size and position of the baby is normal.

We visited our local clinic this morning for the first of our regular checkup with the midwife at the GP. The midwife commented that all was normal and my bloodpressure recorded exactly the same as when it was last checked in the hospital. I told her that maybe because I do not work, I am therefore not too stressed, so it should be quite normal and constant...she laughed! :)

Whilst we may not have the luxury of a sonogram image scan in the clinic, the midwife had brought out a doppler. A doppler is a device which employs ultrasound to listen to the fetal heart, via the abdomen. We had only used to see Bambino's heartbeat on the ultrasound imaging system, but never had the chance to actually hear it! So, for the first time, we heard his heartbeat loud, clear and fast! One can see the heartrate recorded every second through the doppler's digital screen and Bambino measured the normal rate of between 110 - 160 beat per minute. The midwife explained that as babies are growing fast, their heatrates would normally be twice as fast as normal adults.

YL and myself were pretty intrigued by bambino's heartbeat resonating from the doppler...they certainly sound like drumbeats! :)

"Papa" makes special mention of Bambino in his thesis acknowledgement!

After months of hardwork, YL has finally printed out his thesis and sent it for binding today, preparing to submit it to the examiners. Last night, he was editing the acknowledgement section of his thesis and below is an excerpt from the section:

"I thank my wife Puay-Sze for her neverending patience, support and love which has been so crucial to me. I also want to make special mention of my soon-to-be-born son, Isaac, for the joy and additional motivation that he brings to me during the last lap of my thesis-writing!"

Awww....sweet!

:)

Having a sense of rhythm!

Went to church this morning and there was a really talented team leading worship. The worship songs chosen by the worship leader has a tint of African flavour to it (not surprising, as he was a Afro-British), and i felt as if i was worshipping God from Africa itself!

We saw a double-bass player amidst the team and the sound of his double-bass just resonated and boomed through the room! Having noted the power of the double-bass, YL whispered to me, "Wonder if Bambino can hear it?"

I laughed and replied that Bambino was probably asleep but was sure he would soon wake up to the music!

And true enough, in the middle of worship, whilst singing this verse,"I will worship You with all that is within me...", I felt Bambino moving and kicking to the beat of the double bass!

At that moment, I realised two things:
a) As I was trying to worship God with all that is within me, Bambino must have realised the part that he plays in fulfilling that promise to God (afterall, he was within me!). A mother's (and father's) spiritual life must indeed have some effect on the unborn child!
b) Bambino sure had a sense of rhythm, as I felt him "move to the groove"!

I was reminded of this verse that YL had read out to me a few evenings ago:
"This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD. " (Psalm 102:18, KJV)

That morning, as a family, we worship and praise God with all of our being... :)

"Papa" and Bambino

YL has been very excited about Bambino ever since he realised that he was going to become a father. Everyday, when he comes home from school, he will ask earnestly about Bambino, whether Bambino has moved a lot or kicked a lot, or whether I have discovered any of Bambino's special movements!!

He loves to put his hand on Bambino's home (my tummy) and feel Bambino's movements. His eyes would light up and he would chuckle in excitement whenever he feels the rhythmic movements of bambino "having hiccups" (or so we think!), or just him rolling about.

He would also read out psalms to Bambino and at times pray for Bambino.

He would dream of the things that he wants to do with Bambino when Bambino is finally out...how he wants to teach him music, teach him languages (hebrew???), teach him swimming, teach him physics, do experiments with him (not to him!!), play with him, etc...

He would talk to Bambino, and tell him that this is his "papa" touching him, hoping that Bambino would respond with a kick. And often, I think Bambino does respond quite uniquely to him. Perhaps its because YL has a higher metabollic rate which causes his temperature to be generally higher than normal people. As such, Bambino could probably feel the difference between my touch and YL's touch. For example, at times he might not have been moving even when i pat my tummy, but when he senses YL's touch, he could give a mild kick or move with YL's palm. Of course, his "papa" feels really delighted at the special treat from his son!

:)

25th weeks

Negotiating with Bambino on his arrival date

According to the dating ultrasound done in the 8th week, Bambino is due on 26 Nov 2005.

[FYI - Dating scan is normally done at 8-12 weeks - the sonographer takes some basic measurements of the baby, for example from the top of his head to the end of his bottom (crown/rump measurement) in order to calculate how many weeks old he is, and therefore, predict the due date. Dating scans tend to be done before 13 weeks as they are less accurate after this, as measurements will be affected by growth variations and will no longer reflect the fetal 'age' correctly.]

It had just occurred to me that according to Chinese traditions, mums are supposed to be "confined" to the home with their babies for at least 30 days postnatally. As such, if Bambino does arrive on 26 November (Saturday), we would both only be liberated on Christmas Day (25 December)!! Aiyoh!! Sounds like a really long time to me, and I had really hoped that we could celebrate Christmas without being bounded to the home. And this is assuming that he doesn't decide to delay his entrance into this world! :)

So, dear dear Bambino, lets have a negotiation. Please do not be shy and delay coming into this world beyond 26 Nov! Sure, the world may seem to be a scary place sometimes, but Daddy and Mummy promise to protect you with all that we have, and God is always watching over us too!! Better still, wonder if we can entice you to come out and meet us a few days earlier? What about 23 Nov, instead? That way, we can all go out and celebrate Christmas Eve in church and perhaps catch a bit of the christmas light-up in Orchard Road!! :)

What will Bambino look like?

Ok...i know this is going to look bizarrely funny...
but YL had a haircut this afternoon, and came home looking like a little boy...
was wondering how much Bambino will take after him...
so I shot a side "mugshot" of YL and then morphed his photo with Bambino's ultrasound shot (see original here) via photoshop... :)

This was the outcome:

Ha ha ha!

Aiyoh...why am i so blur?

So they say pregnancy really makes a mother-to-be more forgetful...
It really showed in me today.

Baked banana bread this morning...
Texture and everything turned out just right....

But realised that I forgot to put in sugar...
Now must eat it with honey....

sigh! :(

p/s: Told hubby about it and he says "Nevermind, failure is the mother of success ! Will get more bananas for tonite! Will bake together with you..." So sweet! :)

The banana bread that finally turned out alright!

Bambino's playmates

Its an exciting time. Lots of my good friends whom I grew up with are expecting their first child and they're all due in the couple of months ahead.

SS - due in early August
AK - due in mid Sep
YN - due in mid Oct
Myself - Bambino's due in end Nov

YN and SS are my family friends. Our parents were university mates and since we were very young, we've all had weekly gatherings to play tennis/table-tennis/mahjong. Out of all the kids, we're the only three girls and were therefore rather close. So, it was with sheer delight that we found ourselves pregnant in months apart one another. (We didn't purposefully plan it though!! haha!) !

AK is a very close church friend of mine and was the first to help "diagnose my pregnancy"!

I remembered when I shared with a few of them about expecting Bambino, we all got very excited and discussed how our children can be one another's playmates, and we can then all register our kids for primary one together, six years down the road!

Some of us were even saying how we can start our own enrichment classes, since we have a ready pool of kids...e.g. get YL to volunteer teaching them piano/guitar or giving them physics lessons. Talk about starting them young!

Anyhow, it was with great joy when I received YN's email yesterday announcing the arrival of SS's bundle of joy!! "Hi, just to let you know, SS has delivered this afternoon (2nd Aug), about 2pm. Baby Kih Shaw is 3.17kg and 50cm in length." YN was so considerate that she even emailed me a photo that she had snapped of Kih Shaw. Cute!! :)

So the first of the new generation has arrived!

Being the "youngest", Bambino has to wait for his turn to make his entrance into this world. But am sure that when the time comes, Bambino would be excited to meet all his new playmates! :)

Bambino talk

Just imagining what Bambino might be thinking ... :)

He's been more and more active these days...must be busy listening in on us and reacting to what we are saying! If only we can decipher what he is saying too! Just the other night, I was reading aloud a few Psalms from the Bible and found him to be kicking rather rhythmically...maybe he was saying "Amen" to the promises in the Bible!! :)

I came by this psychological experiment in a book titled "Baby Monthly" by Carol Pope published by BBC. The experiment indicated that "even before making an entrance into the world, babies listen in, learn and , even more surprisingly, remember what they have heard going on out there". Psychologist Anthony De Casper asked pregnant women to sing 'Mary had a Little Lamb' frequently in the fortnight before they expected to give birth. After the birth, the newborn babies were given a choice - through the sucking test. The babies were fitted with headphones through which they could hear a tape either of 'Mary had a Little Lamb' or another song sang by their mothers. They could switch the songs by changing the way they sucked on a special dummy or pacifier, which was wired up to a computer. By sucking faster or slower, the babies could change the tape. The babies voted with their sucks for their familiar womb song - 'Mary had a Little Lamb'!! :)

Wonder if Bambino will choose 《小白船》if he is subjected to similar tests when he has been borned? :)

Here's an interesting artical on "Fetal Psychology".