Baby Arrival

 Ta-dah! 

My fluffy little marshmallow a.k.a Baby G is here. 

After 37 weeks + 1 day, I finally got to cradle her in my arms on 7th December 2014.

She just made it to full term and weighed a mere 2.1 kg at birth.

 

 Her feet size in comparison with a regular lip balm :)

 

 This new world citizen slept well during the first two weeks. 

She even smiled and occasionally did silent laughters in her sleep.

My husband and I had to cancel our 6th Wedding Anniversary dinner at an Italian restaurant 

to give way to Baby G. After one night in the hospital, there she was back home with us 

on our anniversary day. What better way to commemorate our union. PTL.

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Wet My Pants

Friday. Winter. Sunny blue sky.

Yup. At 8.30am in the morning, I felt like I wet my pants. Was not too sure if it's that or... my water broke. I did not tell my husband before he left for work. As this was my first pregnancy, everything was new to me.

But somehow by 2.30pm, some very mild sensation tells me I did not just pee in my pants. Though I was home alone, I was not scared at all. I was overjoyed and excited that this special moment was coming. I broke the news to my better half and told him not to rush home but to do as much as possible today for a proper hand over before going on paternal leave from tomorrow (Saturday) onwards. 

Then, I messaged my parents 6,500miles away. My mother freaked out and called me right away. I had to calm her down. She was so surprised I am still so chill. I surprised myself too. Hahaha...

 

I also told several friends that my water has officially broken. Dear S who just gave birth 3 weeks before me, volunteered to chauffeur me hospital for assessment. God bless her. While waiting for her to arrive, I quickly finished my half-packed maternity bag, tidied the house and tried to make sure all baby stuff is ready & in place. Oh, I couldn't help smiling from ear to ear. I couldn't contain my joy.

There I was at the *hospital at 5.00pm. I was on my own and the midwife did the assessment on me. The graph showed that my contractions was very mild and I was told to come back the next day at 7.30am to get induced. I was not pleased with that suggestion.

 

When I got home with the help of another friend, D, it was already dark. This calendar note says the right thing at the right time. 

My husband and I had dinner and exchanged our wedding anniversary gifts (which was supposed to be done next day). We had to cancel our dinner date for our pre-anniversary gift ;)

Before we went to sleep, we had communion with Him and we claimed His truth against fear (which could greatly & so unnecessarily intensify pain even before anything happens). We prayed against induction and I meditated upon His love that drives out fear.

 

We woke up at 4.30am the next day to pray for stronger contractions so that I could reject induction and be allowed VB. By 6.00am, the contractions were close enough to be admitted to *hospital. And again, our friend, D, came at this hour to chauffeur us . PTL.

* In case you wonder why I was still lingering at home since my water broke and returned home after the assessment, it is because the NHS hospital would tell preggers to go home as they do not accept them until their contractions start going strong & consistent.

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About To Pop!

 Counting down to my bubba's arrival. Anytime between now and 26th December, 

I would be cuddling my heartbeat in my arms.

 I hardly look pregnant when I was five months along. 

 

While I furnished the nursery corner, I couldn't resist the idea 

of hand making my bubba a soft toy. 

Hello cloud buddy :)

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Antenatal Classes

Well, I won't have long before my little bubba would be out to greet me. Though the pregnancy has not been an easy one, I have been filled with joy and excitement. It is interesting to watch how my tummy changes shape within seconds as she shifts and rolls. Sometimes gently, sometimes rather painful especially when she kicks my rib cage. Ouch! 

My parents says probably she would love football like her daddy.

As the big day is drawing near, my hubby and I attended two antenatal classes 

and one water birth class. Some things we did in the classes were quite fun.

They handed me an oriental looking baby

during a training session.

Learning the stages of labour.

One type of pool available for water birth. Different hospitals 
or labour centres would have different versions.

Interactive sessions include nappy changing, 
how to massage pregger and ways to manage contractions.

This is a book I have heard about since 15 years ago while I was still a teenager. Towards the third trimester, I began reading this book and claiming God's truth against fear. The prayers in it helped me keep calm and focus on God's goodness and not pain. From it, I learned not to anticipate pain or anything negative but to be positive and to turn my eyes to My Deliverer.  

It is subjective on how much this book really helps respective preggers. In my humble opinion, it depends on how much you believe in it and how determined you are in claiming God's truth. I highly recommend this book.

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70th Birthday

Privileged to have been commissioned by my senior pastor's wife to make a special card for a lady in church.

I love how this lady present herself. She is posh but actually blends well among the congregation. Meek, wise, supportive, a role model. May God enable me to age as gracefully when I am her age.

Crafty Niggles

The gloomy wet season is back. Days like these often make me feel like hiding indoors and cuddle up in my warm duvet.

But thanks to friends that think of me every so often, luring me out of my shell with the lovely all-so-familiar comfort food to melt the blues away.


The pregnancy was challenging with many bouts of nausea, rendering me exhausted. During this period of time, I had put my craft and card making on hold. And since I do not need to be rough with my fingers, I could have fancy nails.

Last year, I had a blog entry about my favourite hues for nails. I admire those crafters that display pretty manicured nails in their tutorials. I for one find it hard to maintain the polished nails as I can be rather mean with my fingers when I cook, wash or craft. Hehehe.





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Precious

Recently, I have just returned to my parents' house and looked through my old stuff. I was on a mission to find an old garment among many other things. Guess what that was?

 

 It was my 1st birthday suit worn in 1984. For many years, it was nicely kept by my mother until sometime during my teenage years, she just decided to hand it to me for my own safekeeping. And guess what again? This lovely suit is now home with me...

 

...as I anticipate the arrival of my little one in just a couple of months time. This very same suit shall be worn by her. And perhaps when my hair turns grey, it would be worn yet again by someone along my line.

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Throwback Thursday

Don't you just love it when you stumbled upon photos that bring you good memories? Found these pictures while I was combing through my old photos in the hard disk.

 

 (pearl buttons, paper bag strings, lace, paper flower and card board)

 (red velvet paper, card board, black buttons, string, green organza)

These were made upon the request of  a couple who were getting married in 2005. They were used at their wedding dinner reception to keep the monetary gifts received that evening.

Unfortunately, these boxes did not last through the dinner. I was told that their wedding planner was in a hurry to retrieve the monies from these securely-permanently-glued boxes, he got his assistants to tear them apart. The boxes were too big for the safe.
To my horror, the torn boxes were discarded on spot! Oh, my labour of love being trashed.


 Well, nevertheless a lesson learned. Never ever seal a box permanently if you are leaving it at the mercy of others and if you intend to reuse or keep it. I am just glad I did not forget to photograph it (with my then Sony Ericsson feature phone) before handing the boxes to the couple :) Thank God for the digital camera era.





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Pin That Idea

Some days when I just want to be inspired while I laze on the couch, I would be on my i-pad browsing interesting pictures of lovely random stuff on Pinterest.

Though I seldom have much space within the home to do big DIY projects, I can't help not attempting any of these seemingly easy projects especially when there is an opportunity and a reason to do one.

I made this wall art inspired by the many ideas I saw on Pinterest. This one has to do with kitchen towel rolls. For my project, I used mostly the kitchen rolls and some card boards.  I avoided toilet rolls because I wanted to avoid the E.Coli.

 The kitchen rolls were sectioned and joined into formations with glue gun.

 

Then, painted with acrylic paint.

  

And finally attached to the canvases.

 

They are now in a local Christian centre to greet the volunteers whenever they meet in the prayer room.

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Second Trimester

The past weeks have been very challenging for me. The almost daily nausea has been so severe that I was homebound for 8 weeks. I could hardly stomach any food and suddenly certain smell of food would offend me. I was hungry but I was also nauseous. Wherever I went within the house, I had a bag in hand. Although I've read and I've been told that this nausea will subside by the second trimester, it was horrendous as long as it lasted.



Well, I am just glad that my 16 hours flight back to homeland was not another episode of nausea.

I am now in the middle of my second trimester and I don't yet look pregnant. The older female relatives would joke about themselves naturally looking more pregnant than me.


 One of the things I did while I was back was to get pampered at the hair salon. 

The nostalgic classic found at chinese barbers or salons.

One doesn't need to read chinese to understand the comic.

During this trip, the nausea & poor appetite caused me to lose weight while I am pregnant. Though I had ideas of food I might like to enjoy, I did not always end up eating them when they were served before me. 

My favourite dry beef noodle hawker stall from Chinatown 

has an outlet in a mall but they do not have the noodle option I was craving for.

Am grateful that my in-laws and my hubby were so accommodating to this new fussy pregger who was also confused with her wants.

Living 6,500 miles away from homeland would always mean missing all the important events - weddings, birthdays... and funerals. I missed saying goodbye to a dear friend but I am sure he knows he is always remembered & greatly missed.



Sorry folks if you find this entry a tad too depressing. But hey, this is just part of my colourful journey. Sometimes, there is more beauty on things in black & white monochrome ;)








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Goodies From 6,500 Miles Away

 This afternoon I was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of this package.

The moment I saw how my name was written, I knew which angel sent this my way. 

It's from my crafter friend, Miss Kiraishi

And of course no gift is complete without a greeting card. Though she didn't 

make this herself, she chose a card that j'aime.

Now, I must figure out what goodies I could get her. It's my turn to spread the love.

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New On Board

Been wanting to share this good news from day 1 

but it seemed that now is the better time for it...

This badge is free, obtainable upon request from any London tube station counters. It really did help me 
especially when my tummy was not obvious under all those winter layers and I felt I needed to sit. 
If people around are vigilant, you could be offered a seat without needing to request for one.

Now that explains the low energy and all. 

A little peanut is growing!

Month 3 :)

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