pregnancy so far....

....has been good.

i've been wanting to write bout my pregnancy ever since we found out. but i've been waiting to announce it after 12 weeks. and now i can't even remember what i wanted to write about haha let's see if i can remember

i didn't get the morning sickness which was why we found out so late. guess i'm not as attuned to my body as i thought. the lethargy has gone as i entered into a week or 2 of my 2nd trimester. 

i read on the app that i should be able to feel baby move around 18-22 weeks. at 18 weeks i was anxious to feel baby but i guess i still couldn't. i felt him move around like a snake in my body at around 20-21 weeks. it was more prominent every time i blew dry my hair. it was as if he was telling me that he didn't like the loud noise very much.

i think i felt kicks and punches the most when we were preparing to go back to kl for a holiday. so that must be around 21 weeks. we went back to kl to enjoy some holiday before i'm grounded for i don't know when. 

in the beginning, he only kicked and punched me every time i eat. i guess he's showing his boy personality. hopefully he'll be an awesome eater in the future. then sometimes, he slowly progressed to moving when he hears my voice; when i'm singing or praying, he'll kick. now a days, he moves whenever he knows that i'm awake (i wonder how does he know when. even when i'm half asleep, he knows), when he hears mine and daddy's voice, and also when i'm eating.

my fingers have swollen a tad bit which means i can't wear my engagement ring anymore. my wedding ring seems to get tighter and tighter as the days passes. the first time i saw my legs swell was after landing in kl, when we were home and i was getting ready to change for dinner. the husband helped me take off my compression socks and bam! feet was super swollen i couldn't even recognize it. then slowly, every time i sat too long, it gets swollen. but as long as i put my feet up when i sleep, it goes back to normal the next day. 

being back in kl this time made me have heat rash. usually i'm alright. but i guess the baby has changed my body, so i'm left with heat rash here and there. hopefully it goes off asap :(

my sweet tooth has gone. this baby doesn't like anything sweet. every time i look at chocs and sweets i feel yucks. sometimes i feel like eating it and when i eat it, i have this really bad after taste. instead, i love things that are sour or spicy. a lot of people have been trying to tell me to eat a variety of food so that the baby will be open to trying new food in the future. but i can't seem to do that. i have been trying though. this week i'll try to eat pasta again. haven't been eating pasta ever since i've gotten pregnant. i used to be able to eat pasta every day but now i find it revolting.

i've been trying to be diligent in taking my bump photos weekly but have been missing a few weeks here and there. my plans was thwarted especially when we went back to kl for hols. haha hopefully i am able to continue it back now

anyway i can't think of anything else to update. if i remember anything, i'll update again

20 weeks scan

we went for our 20 weeks scan just right before we left to go back to Malaysia. we have been looking forward to it because that was the week where we found out whether it was a boy or girl. 

here in Australia they do things a little differently. we only have 3 or 4 ultrasounds throughout the pregnancy.

1st scan: to see how far along is baby. measure the length and take a photo of its size

2nd scan (20 weeks): to see baby's gender, measure weight and height, reconfirm due date, check through baby's growth (whether it's normal, all organs are developed, spine, 2 hands and feet)

the first thing the doctor asked us was whether or not we wanted to know the gender. we immediately said of course we wanna know. so he said you see that thing there? the straight thing? your baby is a baby. definitely a boy. haha

we were so happy to hear that baby's a he because that's what we wanted all along. we both wanted a boy as a first child because we have some preconceived notion that boy's will be taught to take care of their younger siblings.

this time the scan took really long because he said the baby was constantly moving which made it difficult for him to scan. at one point, baby pushed himself into a corner and curled up with made the sonographer a bit irritated. all in all we were in there for bout 40-45 minutes.

it was so nice watching him move and turn because the last time we saw him, he was still a little peanut with not much features. just a small lil blob and we didn't get to see him for long because it was just a short appointment. this time, it was like a whole different person. haha nice to see him growing

now we have to think of a name for him since we've been calling him baby boy. can't call him baby cuz then we'll get confused as we sometimes call each other baby lol

so the next scan which is the 3rd scan, it'll be when i'm almost gonna give birth. that's when they will check the baby, make sure his progressing down to the birth canal and getting ready to meet everyone

1st visit to the hospital

written on the 20th of May 2015


today was the very first time we went to the hospital. it was a bit daunting because the hospital is pretty huge but the signage and all made it quite easy to find. we were supposed to go to the pregnancy clinic on level 1

once we arrived, there were so many people. pregnant people. and their belly's were huge. i felt like i didn't belong there because i was still too small. but oh wells. it's time for me to go for hospital appointments instead of going to the regular GP (whom i don't really like anyways. she's so blur. didn't even get my weight right)

there were some who went on their own and some with their partners. we were guessing those women who didn't have their partners together with them was because they've been to so many appointments that they were just too bored to go to another again lol

some of them were knitting even. i felt like i should take up knitting. haha but the baby will come out during spring/summer. it'll be too hot for he/she to be wearing knitted clothing. 

funny thing happened while we were waiting. when we arrived to the clinic, this couple kept looking at us. every time i looked at the guy, he would be looking at us. i was feeling a bit self-conscious. suddenly, he went to kevin and said, "excuse me bro, do you speak vietnamese?" kevin said no. then he said, "oh, china?" and kevin said, "no, malaysian" and that was the end of the conversation. they appeared to be confused and unsure of what to do. i wonder what are they unsure about. wish i could help but too bad

anyway, went in to meet the midwife. some of them called our names so softly that we couldn't hear it. i couldn't hear my name cause there were conversations going on and children crying and playing. how to hear them right? anyway, we saw a midwife calling someone and when no one went up, she walked back in. then i heard my name. oooo! she was calling me. oops!

went in and the first thing the midwife showed us was this trial pack filled with a children's book, some pamphlets, and a "bible" for pregnancy. she said only random few first time english speaking expectant mothers would get this. this is a trial pack as they are trying to standardize everything in Australia. felt so privileged. apparently, even some of the staff wants it haha

one thing about me is that i love goodie bags. i love anything that come in packs and are free. so when i was offered the free pack i was ecstatic and even more so when it sounds so exclusive. and we were also given another card to collect a "bounty" bag which was filled with even more goodies! oh boy! makes me such a happy person! haha

so anyway, answered a few questions that were more in detail as compared to the questions in the GP. when almost every question came back with a no and more no's. she said that she seldom see young and fit mothers now a days. mostly are those with complicated backgrounds that would cause risky pregnancies or older mothers who will definitely be subject to certain risk in her pregnancy. so when my answers indicated nothing of concern, she was quite surprised and was hoping that i would say there was something wrong. haha weird isn't? shouldn't you hope the best out of your patients?

anyway, made another appointment to see a doctor on 3rd of june. she wondered why i couldn't see the midwife and the doctor at the same time today. but oh wells. i enjoyed spending the whole day with the hubs. it was fun!

i can't wait till i'm 20 weeks!! that's when we see the baby again and definitely will be able to see the gender!!

all in all, really praise and thank God that the pregnancy and birth is covered by our OSHC insurance if not we would have to pay $15,000 plus. which by the way is insane!!! so thank you God!!!

blood & needles

written on the 7th of April 2015


since we did the pregnancy test on Good Friday, it was the long weekend. we had to wait till today when everything operates are per usual. was a bit skeptical that we wouldn't get an appointment, figured it'll be fully booked but thank God it wasn't.

went for the doctors appointment and while we were registering ourselves in the clinic, i saw a pregnant doctor (who was also quite pretty i must say) coming out to call a patient in. immediately i prayed and said "God, i want her. or some other female doctor that is nice." and i really got her. haha she was really down to earth. quite easy to talk to. but it seems that she loves to talk because i couldn't get a word in haha but i knew i wanted a female doctor. i'm uncomfortable having male doctors even though i heard that they are better than female ones. so anyway...

we mentioned to her that we took the home pregnancy test and her face was like ahuh...so why are you coming in here for? haha she looked so clueless as to why we were there. she said usually home pregnancy tests are pretty accurate especially since we took 2 tests! haha but in the end she mentioned that we should do a blood test. now, here's the thing... in my whole life, i've never gotten a blood test before. nobody has ever intentionally drawn blood from me, obviously this made me nervous like hell...! i asked whether it was necessary and she said yes! *tears*

so we were directed to another room where they took blood samples. this chinese aunty was the one who did it for me and i must say she didn't seem too friendly. i was so scared and nervous and tensed up. i couldn't even look at what she was doing to me, i had to look away. apparently from what i've read, this is not my 1 and only blood test. apparently there's more to come. oh yay me!!

so anyway, even though i didn't look. i could hear the blood gushing out into the tubes. it hurt when she stuck the needle in and hurt a lil when she was switching the tubes. but it was all over before i knew it. not a fan of it seriously. not a fan

after taking my blood samples, she seem to have soften up a lil. put cotton wool on it with a tape. oh boy. the sticky tape was even more painful that getting poke by the needle. taking it off was like waxing. i had to get the husband to tear it off because it was too painful for me to handle. so because i'm going to be working the next few days and we've been told that we had to wait a few days for the results to get back, we made the next appointment for monday. i guess that's when we will know better. like the due date and set up further appointments and even choose a hospital. it's all getting so so real!

us as parents???

this was written on the 5th of April 2015

today is Good Friday and we've decided a few days before that we'll do the pregnancy test today. we've done tests a few times before just cuz i missed my period. but we kept forgetting that whenever i'm stressed, it affects my period. so we were quite used to seeing just 1 line and usually a few days after the test, my period comes. so when we decided to take the test this time, we weren't expecting much. but i've noticed a few changes with my body recently but yet i don't experience the "full" force of pregnancy symptoms so still a bit skeptical. however, because i haven't been well (flu and cough), we decided it was due to that

come this morning, we had 1 last pregnancy test left. did the usual thing that you would need to do with the test. the instructions was very specific and mentioned that it should only be 5 seconds long (bold and underlined for effect). the husband told me to stop at 6 seconds and i was pretty sure we messed up the test. slowly but surely 1 line slowly crept up and i was so sure that was just it. since we were so used to seeing only 1 line. but suddenly i saw another really really really light line which grew darker pink as time passed. i sat there and stared at it with disbelief. i kept saying "oh my goodness dear! oh my goodness dear!" and the hubs being the hubs didn't believe me (since i love playing pranks on him). he kept saying "are you serious? don't play ah"

we just couldn't belief it.

we decided that we would just go to the chemist and get another test. since it's the long weekend, we were afraid that nothing will be opened and we would have to wait till tuesday to make a doctors appointment. but thank God the chemist was opened. i asked the pharmacist whether i would've to wait till the next morning since i did 1 test already and it was positive. she said just get 1 to try again and you can do it any time since you've already done one but usually there's not false positive, only false negative. we both stared at each other with this goofy, toothy grin. haha so off we bought another test and couldn't wait to go home to try.

the results for the 2nd test came even faster than the 1st one and the lines were even darker. maybe their recommendation of the 1st morning pee isn't very accurate haha so this time we were positive that WE'RE PREGNANT!!!! 

but just waiting to set a doctors appointment to really really confirm it. so it's gonna be quite hard a secret to keep from our family and friends.

will update this once we've seen the doctor!!!

the first test

see the 2nd line, it's lighter

the 2nd test

the lines are darker and the results came out faster than the 1st test we did

Day 1 of 365

Blessed new year!!

Been writing unfinished blog posts and haven't had the willpower to finish them. can't even remember our blog name. goodness!

so I thought since it's the new year and the hubs is working. i have nothing better to do. all the tv shows are on break. so i thought i'll finish writing everything so that i don't have to think about it anymore

Day 365

I can't believe that this is the last day of the year. 

Day 365. 

This year has been crazy, stressful, fun, interesting, adventurous, and dramatic. I can't believe that we're entering into the new year soon. 

For starters, I'm done with uni! Done with studying! Until maybe some time in the future where I might need to continue studying again to be in the current

This is us. We wanted to be on this bridge to watch the fireworks. 

We've learned from last year to not be in the CBD to welcome the new year. So I thought, why don't we just watch it from the bridge in front of our place. 

Since we were early we decided to walk nearer towards Crown to see if there's a better view. As we were walking, we noticed people with tents, picnic mats, blankets, or some sat on the wooden walkway. 

As we were nearing Crown, there was just too many people and we hate crowded places. So we decided to turn back to where we came from. Found a spot to seat and decided to set up the GoPro. As we were setting up, there were more and more people coming which was fine because we were at the edge of the wooden walkway anyway. Nobody would be in the way of our view 

If people pushed us, we would've fallen into the river

before we know it, it was countdown and we had to quickly reposition the camera again. Then the fireworks began!!

the funniest part was that the bar opposite from where we were did a countdown. so the people over here followed suit. but when i looked at my phone, it just turned 11.59 pm. someone's watch or phone must be really lousy. 

in the end, we had 2 countdowns

This view was way better with lesser crowd. 

Last year we couldn't even see all of the fireworks cuz we were in the CBD itself. We were under all the buildings where the fireworks came from. And don't ask me about the way home. 

We barely walked because we were pushed along by people making their way to wherever else they wanted to be. 

But this time, nope. None of that. 

We enjoyed it more than last year. It was a good good call

But yet I do miss going for watch night service. I do miss welcoming the new year with close friends and family. These 2 years we celebrated on our own and with strangers. Definitely something we have to get used to until we find good friends of our own here