Monthly Archives

July 2012

pregnancy

Birth Plans

July 31, 2012

Lately, all my dreams have been about giving birth.

Just 2 nights ago, I dreamt that I needed to go in for an emergency c-section and the gynae started brandishing a cleaver like Daniel “The Butcher” Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York. I was still calmly asking him if it was necessary to use a knife that big and he was all “we’re out of scalpels but don’t worry, everything is under control” while twirling his moustache. And the most disconcerting thing about the whole dream? I was less concerned about the cleaver and more about the fact that my gynae doesn’t even have a moustache. I just saw him last week and the guy was clean shaven, then a week later, he’s got facial hair long enough to twirl.

Then last night, I dreamt that I was in labor. Like actual screamy, panic-inducing, BABY’S COMING NOW kind of labor. My dreams don’t usually translate into real pain but last night’s dream had my stomach all up in knots. It turned out to be a particularly bad case of middle-of-the-night-diarrhea but the point is that my brain managed to conjure up a whole dream scenario to give some context to the pain.

I’m no expert on interpreting dreams because they usually never mean what I think it means but I see a theme here and I’m going out on a limb to say that I’m about ready to pop.

So I figured I might as well be productive and come up with a proper birth plan. For the previous 2 kids, my entire plan was to arrive at the hospital and start yelling for an epidural. But after some serious consideration, I’m going to attempt a medication-free labor. I have to at least try this once and see how far I can go without having to stick a needle up my spine.

To make the process easier (or at least provide some distraction from the pain), I’ve come up with a list of things I’ll need in the delivery ward.

1. Music – Chariots of Fire by Vangelis (on repeat), followed by Deshi Basara (the epic Bane chant from the Dark Knight Rises) during the pushing phase.

2. Movies/Dramas – Every episode of Game of Thrones from the past 2 seasons. Now’s not the time to be watching namby pamby characters whining about their romantic interests (I’m looking at you, Ted Mosby). It’s time to go for some Ned Stark level of brutal medieval action.

3. Mobility – The good thing about not having epidural is that I won’t have to be confined to the bed. I’m going to try every yoga position possible to see if it helps with the pain management. If I have to squat to deliver the baby, I’m going to do it.

The husband says that this time, he’s going to film the entire birth process and make it into a snazzy video and I made him a promise that if he so much as brings any image capturing device near my birth-giving parts, I will personally get off the delivery table and beat him unconscious with said device.

If you have any birth plan recommendations, do share!

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events, giveaways reviews ads

Disney•Pixar’s Brave

July 29, 2012

So last weekend, we were given tickets to attend the Gala Premiere of Disney•Pixar’s latest movie, Brave @ The Cathay.

I was really looking forward to it the whole week because a) I’m a huge Disney•Pixar fan and b) I’ve seen the trailer and I was 98% sure Kirsten was going to LOVE it.

Before I go any further, just two words: nailed it.

Without giving anything away, the movie does feel more Disney-esque as compared to the usual Pixar offerings. There’s Merida, the (admittedly feisty) Princess, the shackles of family obligation, and the quest to break free in order to live your dream. Well, she does turn her mother into a bear with a magic spell in the process but hey, we’ve all been there. Your mom is being unreasonable, no problem – just feed her a cake to turn her into a grizzly so she stops nagging.

I, for one, am going to be very careful about eating stuff my kids feed me when they’re upset.

That aside, the movie is pretty much an epic adventure that’s full of heart, memorable characters (love the triplets) and the signature Pixar humor that appeals to both kids and adults alike. The animation is stellar as usual and the scripting is tight and well-delivered.

With the movie set in the Highlands of Scotland, you can be sure that there’ll be lots of bagpipes, men running around in plaid skirts and that cute Scottish accent. In short, you’ll definitely be in for a blast.

During the premiere event, there was also a Brave Games activity area set up outside The Cathay, complete with redheads and a dude playing a bagpipe.

On the way home, Kirsten turned to me and said, “I want my hair to be red and curly like the princess.”

Um, we’ll just have to see about that.

*The film opens in Singapore theaters on 8 August 2012, and will be presented in Disney Digital 3D™

For more details, you can subscribe to the Youtube channel, follow on Twitter and go like the Facebook page, where you’ll be able to do cool stuff like create your own Brave Family Tree.

And if you haven’t had a chance to watch the trailer, here you go.

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Kidspeak, pregnancy

Fact: Kids make you fat.

July 27, 2012

For my mid afternoon snack yesterday, I made myself a grilled cheese with tomato sandwich. I usually have several slices of bacon with my grilled cheese in lieu of anything resembling a vegetable, but during my gynae appointment on Monday, I was told that my weight gain is getting “alarmingly rapid”.

After keeping my weight gain to just 8 kg in 32 weeks, I’ve put on another 3 kg in the last month alone, of which only 200 grams belong to the baby.

I guess that counts as alarming.

Also, I hate you, last trimester hormones.

So I was sitting at the kitchen table trying to enjoy my vegetable sandwich and not think about bacon when the kids came sauntering in.

Tru: What are you having, mommy?

Me: A sandwich. Want some?

Both: Me, me, I want!

Kirsten took a bite and immediately started making gagging faces before letting the whole gooey lump fall out of her mouth.

Kirsten: That’s not a sandwich. It’s gross.

Me: What do you mean it’s not a sandwich? It’s a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. And it’s not gross.

Ok, it was totally gross but if I was going to endure a vegetable sandwich, they were going to suffer together with me.

Kirsten: Sandwich is not s’posed to have tomato…where’s the bacon?

Me: Guys, we’re not going to have bacon for a while because mommy’s on a diet. It’s vegetables for everyone yay!!

Tru: What’s a diet?

Me: A diet is when mommy needs to eat less to lose weight, and I’m not allowed to have bacon.

Tru: Because you’re becoming fat?

Me: Hey, I’m pregnant, there’s a difference. And it’s because of you guys that I’m even in this predicament.

Tru: But Truett and mei mei are not fat what. We can have bacon, you eat the vegetables.

If you must know, they got their bacon sandwich and I might have snuck one or two slices into mine as well.

For the record, if I get really fat, it’s definitely the kids’ fault. All 3 of them.

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picture perfect

Street Fighter

July 25, 2012

I can’t quite make up my mind about Thai boxing.

It’s a tad too brutal for my liking and there’s no way I’m ever going to send my kids for boxing lessons to have them come home with a bloody lip or missing a tooth.

But it’s so cool though. I mean, Ong Bak?

When we saw this pair of boxing shorts during our last trip to Bangkok, I just couldn’t resist.

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getting ready for baby, pregnancy

Five More Weeks.

July 23, 2012

Just like that, I’m at week 35 of this pregnancy. I’ve got 5 weeks to go and I’m not sure if I should be relieved or start throwing my arms in the air and shrieking a little. Maybe a bit of both.

Part of me just wants to give birth like NOW. I’m at the point of the pregnancy where I have difficulty doing simple tasks like taking off my pants or trimming my toenails. Just the other day, I was attempting to walk briskly when the husband leaned in real close and whispered “I need to tell you something, babe…you’re starting to waddle.” And then I punched him in the stomach. Ok, not really. It was more of a friendly jab to the abdominal region.

But with the reality of the impending birth setting in, I’m starting to remember the TRAUMA that is childbirth. Oh, you know, the whole having to push a human out of my vagina thing.

Apparently, mothers have this ability to block out the trauma after giving birth, which is why they can have another kid 6 months after a major screamfest in the hospital. What they don’t tell you is that while you’re able to block out the trauma when you’re having fun making the baby, it all comes flooding back when you’re about to deliver the baby.

Which is um, right about now.

And that brings me to my list of 3 most terrifying things about childbirth. If you’re planning to make a baby anytime soon, I’d recommend that you go see some pictures of cute babies first and come back a few months later when it’s too late and there’s no escaping the process.

1. Cervix check

To fully understand why this is such a nightmare, you have to know where the cervix is. I’d show you pictures but this is a wholesome family blog so you’ll just have to trust me when I say that it’s located in a place that shouldn’t be checked with bare hands. In order to reach the cervix to check it, the nurse has to put her hand and jab around somewhere you really don’t want her to. And yes, it’s every bit as painful as it sounds.

2. Episiotomy

This process involves a scalpel (or scissors) and your lady bits. Those are 2 objects that shouldn’t be near each other but this is the kind of thing that happens in the wonderful world of childbirth. Especially for VBAC cases, the doctor has to make an incision so the baby’s head doesn’t get stuck and cause a wound rupture. How very fun and exciting.

3. Labor Pain

For better or worse, the pain of labor trumps any other sort of pain you feel at childbirth. The husband was standing by witnessing the episiotomy in horror but I had no idea that it was happening because the pain of labor was all I could think of. It’s like when you get shot in the leg, it really doesn’t matter that you also just stubbed your toe, which I guess is a good thing in a bizarre sort of way.

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travel, Videos I dig

93 Million Miles from the Sun

July 20, 2012

A little known fact is that the husband and I used to enjoy video production back in our uni days. We once shot a cheesy horror flick where I got brutally murdered and laid out on a deserted grass patch surrounded by tea lights. Thankfully, all evidence of that has been eliminated.

But the point is we used to really like making videos.

After graduation, we put that on hold because it cost way too much to invest in good video recording equipment. So apart from the occasional footage we take on the iPhone, we don’t really do much video recording.

Recently, I was introduced to the Sony HDR-GW77 Handycam. The folks at Sony passed me one set to fiddle with and when I first saw it, I admittedly didn’t think much of it. It’s like a fraction of the size of the SemiPro Sony Camcorders we used to work with and the whole unit was barely as big as my palm. But the features seemed impressive. It’s completely waterproof (up to 5m), dustproof, shockproof and comes with 10x optical zoom.

It was perfect timing that we got to bring it along to Australia to get some travel footage.

Amazing video quality aside, my favorite feature is the waterproof one. We were at Wet ‘N’ Wild Waterpark and I was about to bring it into the pool when the lifeguard was all like “I think you forgot to put down your camera, it’s going to get wet” and I just shrugged and said “Oh, this? It’s waterproof, mate!” before dunking it in the water like a boss.

Well, ok enough talking and time for some pudding. As in proof, not actual pudding.

Change your Youtube setting to 1080p to view in HD. Enjoy!

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travel

Lavender Lovin’

July 19, 2012

Part of this trip to Australia was to go visit a lavender farm in Melbourne, courtesy of P&G’s all new Fab Lavender. It was a contest held a couple of months back and the plan was to travel later in the year after Finn was born. But things sort of fell into place so we decided to travel last week instead, hence the crazy timing of the trip.

The place we visited was Warratina Lavender Farm, just off Yarra Valley – about an hour’s drive out from Melbourne city.

It was freezing cold and most of the lavender plants were bare but there were already some pockets of purple among the rows of plants. I imagine it would smell quite divine when all the flowers started blooming in spring. Not to mention the rows and rows of pretty purple everywhere.

There was a nursery with different samples in tiny pots so we could smell each one up close. Which Kirsten gladly obliged. She went along the rows taking a giant whiff of each plant and going “mmmm, smells nice!” like a real connoisseur.

But it did smell really nice and lavender happens to be one of my favorite floral scents. Other flowers like rose and peony all smell too sweet, almost annoyingly so. Plus they always remind me of little old ladies with big hats and crisp English accents.

Lavender, though, has that light freshness that’s just right.

It was quite an experience, strolling among the lavender plants and learning about how they are grown, harvested and pretty much distilled into a fragrance of flowery freshness.

Nice move by Fab to go with Lavender instead of the usual citrusy or overpowering floral scents in their new range of detergent. Incidentally, we had a truckload of clothes to wash when we got back and Kirsten saw the lavender on the detergent box and went “That’s lavender! Remember we smell the purple flower in Melbourne?”

Now every time we have a new batch of freshly-washed laundry, we’ll remember the magic of Warratina Farm in Melbourne.

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