Laura has been down with the cold and it’s difficult for her to sleep. So I find myself going to the room a few times in the night to check on her and provide some comfort. Sometimes when I go in, she’s in that crawling position facing the door, looking like she’s ready to pounce on me (one night I got a shock cause I couldn’t see at all in the darkness and she just suddenly made this pouncing movement). It’s not difficult to tell that she wants to be carried. So she tried to come towards me and she sort of tried to use the railing to stand up. She’s able to stand holding onto something, like the table or chair, but I have to help her get into the position. But tonight was a first.

Anyway we all had a good day outside today as a family. With a daughter who looks so much like her father, I do make a lot of effort to dress her up so that strangers will not ask me, “Boy ah?”

See what I mean?

Today, she held my hands/fingers and managed to stand for a decent amount of time. But it will still be some time before she can learn how to walk. Has to crawl properly first.

Christmas is coming and hopefully I didn’t miss anyone out during my X’mas shopping. Lauralynn will almost be 8 months by then and I’m looking forward to the new milestones. If I haven’t already mentioned, she is now able to sit up straight on her own, without leaning forward. She loves the queen-sized foam mattress we bought for her, a cheaper and more practical alternative to those LG/Parklon bumper playmats. She likes to sit on the mattress and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and attempt to sing along with all her favourite characters on Playhouse Disney.

She is also learning to crawl, though not very good at it yet. My sister thinks her butt is too heavy from all the junk food my parents feed her (eg: ice cream, tau hway, milo, etc). I guess she will be able to get it soon enough with more practice.  Meanwhile, here’s how she crawls…

Laura is getting used to taking cereal & porridge, plus a lot of other snacks (eg: ice cream, baby biscuits, teething rusks, etc). So since I am a Stay At Home Mother (SAHM), I decided that I should do more, such as making my own puree to mix into her cereal & porridge.

So today it was carrot and apple purees, stocked up to last for 2 weeks. Any leftovers after that would have to be thrown away and a new batch of frozen cubed purees would have to be made. The colors made me want to eat them!

Laura enjoys mealtimes now. Initially she wouldn’t open her mouth big enough for me to shove the spoon in, despite me going “Open.. Ahhhh…” Maybe she finally got it, and now she opens her mouth so big I could give her a heapful of cereal, though of course I’m not because most of it would spill out of her mouth when she closes it.

Also at the beginning, she would cry halfway through mealtime and I had no idea what was going on. But it’s better now. She even gives me comments which I don’t understand at all. Noticing her today, I figured that maybe she meant “more” as in more food.

She is also learning how to crawl. We bought her a queen-sized foam mattress to roll around, and also so that I can nap with her on the mattress when we’re both knocked out. Right now, she’ll support her body with her arms, then use both her legs to sort of propel herself forward. It looks like a leap + pounce.

That’s all for now. Seeing the fruits & vegge that Laura is eating, makes me want to be healthy too.

Lauralynn has hit 6 months and she is officially on cereals (whether we like it or not) and teething rusks. Just yesterday I sat her in her high chair, and gave her the hardy teething rusk. It’s quite tough to just bite it off like that, but it softens gradually with saliva until Lauralynn can finally eat some of it. So recently she has also discovered that slamming her tiny hands on the tray of the high chair makes sounds. It’s really funny she’s sort of afraid of the sound, but keeps doing it anyway. So she bangs the tray with her eyes constantly blinking. It’s really funny but it’s so hard to catch on video.

Anyway she decided to bang the rusk on the tray and realize, “Hey this makes a bigger sound!” So there she was sat between the 2 of us happily alternating between banging her rusk on the tray and chewing on it. After a while she got bored and wanted mummy and daddy’s attention. So what did she do? Held the rusk in her hand away from her body and let it drop to the floor. It must have been a delight seeing daddy reach to the floor to pick it up and clean it while making comments to her. Finally some attention!

I brought her to the fish shop @ Serangoon after that which kept her occupied long enough for me to talk to the salesguy about our aquarium. It was definitely a feat to carry her in my sling (that’s 7kg on my shoulders, mind you) and carry the fishy stuff in the other hand. Didn’t help that I parked at the wrong section of the carpark and had to walk a long way back.

Lauralynn had better feel grateful about all these things her mother does to keep her happy. She is one lucky girl who has grandparents and aunts and uncles who adore her so much!

Quickly caught hold of the window grille to find my balance again. Screamed for the husband to come and rescue me. He must’ve thought that it’s a labor call or another dry run/false alarm. I knew there and then what had happened to me, and that I was not going to be able to get out of the house for the day.

Pain got worse later in the morning, tried cold pressure to reduce the swelling. Woke up from my nap to realize that it didn’t work. Thank God I have none, or little water retention at my legs, else my foot must look very horrible with the swelling.

It is slightly better now. I hope it improves tomorrow morning.

Think this is a BIG signal to tell me to stop walking so much around the house trying to get things done. Instead, I should be just relaxing on the sofa waiting for the time to come.

I’ve been waking up early with about 7 hours of sleep, then take my afternoon naps which usually last at least 2 hours. I am starting to get paranoid about my water bag breaking. So every now and then whenever I feel uncomfortable “down there” I feel the need to check it out just in case. My tummy has also been feeling uncomfortable, but I know they are not contractions (yet) because they usually just come and go without any regularity.

Although she may be due anytime now, it is true what they say about this period feeling like it’s taking forever. I am almost done with unpacking my stuff, and the house is more or less cleaned up. I have also not gone to school so that I can get rest, although I think I should still be walking around a lot. So to compensate that I walk around the house a lot. It hurts the feet, but I’ve got comfy bedroom slippers that cushion and relieves the pressure.

It is quite exciting, and nervous as well. I don’t know how long my labor will be and I really don’t know what to expect. I have no idea how I will be coping with the pain – will I be able to be relaxed for as long as I can and breathe through the contractions? What happens on Monday if she is still not ready to be out yet? What if she decides she wants out early? Will I be able to breastfeed? There’s a lot of questions in my head, but I am trying hard not let them affect me and adopt a “see how it goes” approach.

It’s more important now than ever before to remain calm and relax until the important moment comes when I really need to focus.

She moved a few times during the session, and I’ve not had any contractions yet. My cervix is only 0.5cm dilated, which means that it is very unlikely that Baby O will want to pop within these few days that my gynae is not around. My next visit is scheduled on Monday, 4th May, a day before we hope Baby O will pop out (also Papa O’s bday). Her actual EDD is 6th May.

We are intending to take a “see how it goes” approach for the time being. While on the way home Hubby & I were discussing what we wanted to do if she doesn’t show signs of wanting to come out. Initially we decided that we would want to induce birth, but now I am also thinking of just letting things happen on their own. I think Papa O is really hoping she will pop on 5th May, and is more keen than I am to induce birth if there is a need to. According to the gynae the usual practice is to carry out induction only 3 days past the due date. I just hope that she is happy inside and growing well.

65.7kg today. Was 64.9kg last week. Must be all the mc dees I’ve been eating man.

It was the first time hubby and I heard Laura’s heartbeat. As I layed down in bed just now (to roll around as I always say it), I started to miss hearing that heartbeat. But well, there’s next week. Baby O has been alright so far, she is still quite active inside, although I can tell that her movements are very restricted and she doesn’t move as much as last time. When she really stretches or moves it kind of feels like there’s some big hoo-hah going on in my tummy. I tell hubby it feels like a war inside, he says maybe it’s an earthquake inside.

We skipped a cervical examination today (to check if my cervix is dilated, thus indicating if I might pop anytime soon) and decided to have one next week on our next visit instead. I seriously have no inkling that Baby O is going to want to pop anytime this week. She seems to feel very comfortable inside and too “nua” to want to come out early.

Our next week visit will be next week and before my gynae goes for a short holiday. I am excited and nervous!

I am already 33 weeks, coming to 34! Time passes by really very quickly and we are making necessary arrangements, and getting ourselves mentally prepared for Baby O’s arrival. She still hasn’t gotten a name yet, but we are working on it! Or maybe I shall keep it a secret until her arrival? Hee hee…

Gynae check-ups are starting to get more frequently. My latest was last week, and my next visit is due following this week. Gradually the check-ups will be weekly, then perhaps almost every other day as I approach my due date. We are crossing our fingers that she will not want to come out any earlier than 5th May. My gynae will also be away a few days before Baby O is due, so I really do not want her to pop out during my gynae’s absence, although a substitute doctor will be arranged.

The last visit we saw that Baby O is beginning to grow hair. They look like a rim of short fuzzy thingy on her head. She is also not yet head down, which she should be by the time we are 37 weeks. She is currently still breeched, or in a horizontal position. So my gynae gave me this exercise to do for 5-10 minutes before i sleep every night, which hopefully will make her turn to the desired head-engage-into-pelvis position.

I can’t really tell, but I am hoping she has started to turn, mainly because it feels like she is pushing up against my ribcage (something I didn’t feel very often). Despite the discomfort it’ll definitely be a relief if she is indeed turning. If she isn’t in the correct position by 37 weeks I will have to do a C-section at 38 weeks, & we want to avoid that.

So that’s about it. She is a very active baby, moving around a lot in the night when I’m in bed (one night i was sleeping really close to hubby and she kicked him). She is also quite active in the afternoons, slightly after lunch. I am expecting her to be one active baby when she comes out, which means I’m in for months of sleep deprivation. Not that she already isn’t causing me to lose sleep.

But we are all still excited and anxious!

Yes yes, pictures up soon. =X