As the title suggests…. We are pregnant! Raymond wrote a long chunk on Facebook to share about his thoughts and how we’re limiting next year’s shoot to 20 weddings and 5 conceptualised pre-wedding shoots. Can read at http://www.fb.com/raymondphangphotography. When Susu read that, she was like, wow, so rare for Raymond to write something and he wrote so much. Hahaha!
Finally did a very simple photoshoot on the evening of 15 July for the pregnancy announcement. Er… yes that was the actual Clear Blue pregnancy test kit in the photo. I KEPT IT UNTIL TODAY! Hahahahaha! Because my boss wanted to include the actual test kit in the photoshoot. Gross but more real mah he says. -.-“. Oh by the way, the “Baby on board!” sign was HANDMADE! Muwahahahaha! My boss went to buy yellow cardboard paper, I measured about 45cm on each side, cut, and drew and colored the black borders area with Susu. Wah, tough job coloring with marker pen cos the black ink doesn’t sit well.
Susu did the sort of movie poster and layout feel for us. Initially she spelt it as theaters, and I was wondering if that’s the correct way to spell it. She said cinema is theater, operating surgical theatre is with the ‘re’ behind. I didn’t know that!
Anyway, I have been trying my best to stick to my bed rest schedule during the first trimester due to bleeding which the gynae classified as ‘Threatened Miscarriage’. Wow, sounded so serious huh. So let’s interview the mum-to-be on her experience so far on being pregnant. So funny ownself interview… here goes nothing!
1. How long have you guys been married? And how come only now then have kids?
Actually this is a real question asked by the gynae on my first visit due to the bleeding. -_-“. Ok erm… we ROM in Year 2011, did our customary in 2013. Known each other for 10 years or so already? Haven’t been actively trying, or rather haven’t been trying for kids. HAHAHAHA! And whatever comes, come lor. Who knows, this time hit jackpot and the boss has been having blue balls since then. 😛
2. How did you find out you were pregnant, and what was both your reaction when you found out about it?
Erm… Basically it’s the typical missed period. But then again I’ve been missing my period for like 2-3 days on months, and sometimes 5-7 days. So we thought aiya, must be delay again, what’s new. But something different to note was, on one of the nights before my period was supposed to come, I had a very bad stomach ache and with it came a very bad diarrhea. It was so different than my usual diarrhea, in terms of color and how I felt like my body just wanted to purge something out. I didn’t have any implantation bleeding so I didn’t suspect anything. Just the diarrhea raised a bit of alarm.
Subsequently, during the few days of missed period, my appetite grew like mad! I can finish 2 liters of porridge chock full of ingredients like fish, tomato, chicken etc and still feel super hungry! I kept eating and eating like a Godzilla and was easily tired. So I felt weird. Told my boss about it but he brushed it away saying aiya, must be you think you are pregnant so your body also kena conned into pregnancy mode.
One day I couldn’t take it anymore, decide to go home and test it out with the Clear Blue Pregnancy test kit even though it was evening time already and I think it’s better to test in the morning when the HCG level is high. Erm… buying the pregnancy test kit also another experience. Kind of embarassing leh. HAHAHAHA! It’s like buying condoms. 😛
Ok back to the test results – who knows, come out positive! But I wasn’t quite sure because the + sign looks abit faded and I was still trying to bluff myself that the faded + means not pregnant. Quickly ran down to show my boss, and he sort of scolded me saying why you go test now??? Cos initially we wanted to do it together and test but I couldn’t wait till Raymond is back with me so I went ahead and test it. We were left confused and in self denial partly also because the leaflet in the test kit says if it’s a +, regardless if it’s faint or not, it just means you are pregnant. That was our reaction. No jumping over the moon etc.
Decided to delay for few more days and see if the period will come. But one day, my boss was out for a shoot and I was out at EXPO attending some seminar. Had to walk to the MRT station, and from EXPO MRT station had to walk all the way to Hall 5 or 6 I cannot remember. Just remember it was almost the end of the path which was sooooooo farrrrrr.
I didn’t felt good, had my jacket on but was still feeling cold. I think I was a little dizzy too and the music was too loud. You know the seminar had lots of jumping and loud music, flashy lights and all. A whole hall of enthu people… Ok just imagine a Zouk countdown party or something. Scream, shout, tear the house down kind. I couldn’t take it, tahan till lunch time when I went to the toilet and realised I was bleeding. Horrified, I took a picture and texted my boss to ask him should I leave the seminar to see a doctor or wait. If I’m really pregnant, then the bleeding is no good! Reason why I was hesitating about a visit to the doctor was because to me, work comes first. And we paid for the seminar, few hundred bucks! Money can always be earned back but when it’s hard earned money, you’ll try all ways not to waste it.
He didn’t reply cos was still at a shoot, then I decided F it, I’ll head to the doctor’s. Cos it was lunch time, the entire hall of people were queuing to get out for lunch. Taxi was not an option, so I walked all the way to the MRT and was frantically googling for gynaes around my house. Couldn’t find info and decided to just head to Raffles Hospital since it was near my place. At the same time, I was still thinking, is that period blood?? Maybe the test kit showed a false positive. Should I go home and take another test kit to try again? But if I go home first, I’ll need to walk back which is another distance, test, and then need to grab a cab down to hospital which at this lunch time is near impossible. Aiya, forget it just go straight to hospital. So from City Hall MRT I still had to walk a long way to Raffles Hospital because the back entrance was closed!!! They were doing some roadworks or something there, so had to walk one big round to the main entrance.
No gynae was available because visits was by appointment only. Wah, want to cry already. I’m there bleeding, first pregnancy if I’m really pregnant and no help was available. I asked the nurse for an alternative, whether is there any nearby gynae or clinic that I can visit. They said nope, this is the only one available… My mind was a blank and I didn’t know what to do. Just stood there and let myself bleed and stare at the nurses at the counter. Finally one nurse who was also pregnant helped me out. She asked the nurse attending to me to check their intranet system for gynaes on standby see who is available to help. Finally got hope! Waited for 45 minutes to see the gynae!
Before the visit, I was super worried because I was alone. Mainly of the bill that is to come from this visit at Raffles Hospital. LOL!
Ok, saw the gynae, he asked a series of questions, then finally proceed on to do the check. Nurse say ok, take off your pants and panties and put them here. I was like… huh?? Why must take off? Thought it’s tummy scan. Then nurse said no no, have to scan from below. I was like OMG…..
I had a vaginal check done to confirm bleeding and transvaginal scan done and I didn’t like the experience. Bleargh! Gynae confirmed, ok, I am bleeding and I am pregnant. Everything is not stable, I need to rest and the usual…. so my first question was, like that can I still work? Gynae asked what line am I in.. I said photography, so sometimes I have to assist, carry camera, lens bag, and sometimes lightstands and more lighting equipment etc. Ok, so I’m not supposed to be doing that. Rest, rest, rest. Even my TCM doctor asked me to take bed rest. Ok. If want to walk, walk inside the house to the window for some sun. HAHAHA! Then the gynae asked me to take some injections myself, twice daily. I was like… erm… any alternatives?? Cannot imagine jabbing myself twice a day, daily! So he prescribed pills for me to eat and to stuff up the you know where. Same thing, twice daily, every day, for one month.
That was it. That was the bomb that confirmed the pregnancy. I came out of the clinic and looked at the ultrasound scan and thought to myself, am I really pregnant? Was stunned for quite some time sitting at the bench at the Taxi Stand alone and munching my pathetic squashed up peanut butter sandwich that I made in the morning for the seminar.
Then came reality check. All the questions started pouring in, things like can we afford the time and money to raise a kid now? Am I healthy enough? Our place is so small, how and where is the kid going to sleep or roam around? Can we make it as good parents? Bla bla bla bla bla… My boss was of course worried and feeling extremely stressed at the same time. Cos beside this, we have other commitments and things going on in both our families. But I guess, still happy.
3. Is there any difference or changes in your life/lifestyle before and after you got pregnant?
Hmm… before that was super hectic. No day no night, meal time were irregular and unhealthy. We ate a lot of fast food practically almost every day. Till my health went a little downhill with the liver pain, the migraines, the eczema, dizzy, cold sores and everything kept attacking. I had severe dry eyes and even did the Schirmer’s test at the eye specialist at Raffles which came back with erm… no tears cos they were too dry when you’re supposed to have some measurements?? And paid a big sum of money just for eyedrops. So last year when I had my Bickerton bicycle as a birthday gift from my boss, I did some cycling with friends, climbed 10 flights of stairs everyday, I stopped eating fast food altogether and fried food, cut down on junk food as well as alcohol, and I even took up Zumba + Yoga classes. I also seen a TCM (Physician Su) at Bukit Batok to rough things out with my body. Took medication and supplements for months after that. I guess with this little change in lifestyle and diet, the body was more ready for a kid which I didn’t know until things happened.
After I got pregnant. Hmm. I can’t exercise cos of the bleeding, so bye bye cycling. 🙁
I’ll attempt to walk more, and wonder what other exercises are good.
Also currently trying to sleep before 12 midnight?
Diet wise, the kid inside knows what is healthy food even more than I do. I loved fast food, fried food, junk food, ice cream, chocolates, cakes, durians, and a whole lot of other stuffs before I got pregnant! I also hated veggies (except the ones I ate in China), I don’t touch fruits unless being held at gunpoint. But this pregnancy changed everything. This kid loves veggies. And fruits. And hates everything that I used to love. So I have to give up ALL MY FAVOURITE FOOD I AM SO SAD NOW!!! 🙁
Two days ago we just met up with a friend for dinner and dessert. My boss ordered my favourite White butterscotch cake from Nine-Thirty. Guess what. I took a small bite, and a few small bite and that’s it. My usual pattern is nobody else get touch the cake except for me, and it’ll be all gone in less than a minute. Sigh… I just couldn’t stomach it, and ended up puking everything out when I got back home. 🙁
My body needed a nap, and there’s a specific timing. I call it the train. If I miss the train, I’ll get headaches and what not. So I have to nap when the timing comes, which is around 5.30pm.
4. Do you have any weird cravings so far?
I don’t really have cravings to be honest. Except for fruits and veggies (OMG I KNOW). Like I now eat a lot of fruits – Lychee, Mangosteen, Apples, Oranges, Watermelon, Guava, Kiwi, Strawberries, Prunes, Cherries etc. Oh before pregnancy I don’t even touch Cherry. Cherry was yucks. But now I love it. -_-”
Oh there was once I was craving for IKEA hotdogs. The bun with the hotdog and mustard and chilli and tomato sauce. That was in the middle of the night. I even wanted my boss to break in to IKEA to steal the hotdogs. HAHAHAHAHAHA!! Anyway he searched islandwide high and low, finally settled for Mustafa food kiosk. But the uncle say ran out of hotdog bun already so cannot sell the hotdogs. My boss begged him to just sell him the hotdogs but the uncle insisted cannot. Then the lady behind the uncle asked “is your wife pregnant?”, my boss said “yes” and the uncle went to the other kiosk to get the hotdog buns. HAHAHAHAHA! Only the women will get it. 😛
5. They say a woman’s sense of smell heightens during pregnancy, does that apply to you?
Oh yes they do. I HATE the smell of fried onion. Somehow constantly I’ll smell fried onion around the house. It was so bad I had to shut all the windows tightly. Previously we opened a bit for air circulation, but now, sorry. In the middle of the night also can smell. I really hated it. Even until now. And occasionally I’ll smell Durians too. Hated it as well. I’ll have to rub truckloads of the baby oil on my nose hoping to mask the smell away.
6. I heard that every pregnancy is different, some mothers don’t experience morning sickness. What about you?
Whoever invented the term “Morning Sickness” must be a guy. -_______-“. Because the sickness doesn’t come only in the morning, and it doesn’t peak in the morning too. I was puking every, single, day. From morning, to, night. Even until past midnight. Whatever I eat, I puke. They always comes explosively, and sometimes the aftertaste was so bad. The worse was I puked until there was nothing left to puke, so I puked acid, followed by the yellow bile liquid. My whole body was literally on the floor and I was really hugging the toilet bowl then. Tears came out, mucus came out from the nose, the heart was pumping like a racing horse, the body was curled up so badly because it was trying to purge out every shit inside me. As though it wanted me to vomit out my stomach then it’ll be happy.
They say the morning sickness will get better after the first trimester. Again, I think it’s up to individual. For me, not quite. I’m still vomiting. SIGH. Appetite hasn’t come back. No weight gain yet. And seemed like every new week the kiddo will show me new pattern, machiam trying to announce to me “hey look marmi, I’m a week older now!”. -__________-”
7. Any remedy that you have tried so far which worked to help ease the morning sickness?
Erm… NO. Unfortunately. Else I wouldn’t be puking so much until I haven’t manage to gain weight even when I’m already at 16 weeks. I hated ginger before pregnancy, and I’ve even tried eating ginger which a lot of mums claimed to work for them. Nah, didn’t work for me. I took the pills that the gynae prescribed, along with Vitamin B6. Helped for a day, then the body got so tough it managed to break through the firewall to pull me back on track with the puking again. I tried warm water, cold water, eating ice lollies, drinking 100+, peppermints, eating crackers before I got out of bed, eating a heavier meal before I sleep so the stomach won’t feel so hungry next morning etc. Didn’t work. Smell lemons. Didn’t work. Seasick magnetic pressure bands. Didn’t work.
So it has been just me and my best friend Le Toilet Bowl, or Le Plastic Bag.
8. Physically and emotionally did you experience any any changes, for example in size?
Physically yessssss…. I grew fatter in size, but strangely the numbers on the weighing scale doesn’t reflect that. I’ve grown out of my jeans and my bra. Sad sia, still got some new bras from La Senza. Had to buy maternity bra from Mothercare, and seemed like it has gotten tighter already. I’m wearing lounge pants from Uniqlo, which looked a little auntie as the mums commented, baggy tops which made me looked even more auntier. But heck, as long as I feel comfy, that’s all that matters.
I don’t have pimples growing on my faces, but my eczema problem came back like a nightmare along with dandruff which is really bad. Hate it.
Emotionally, I was very unstable. Pre-natal blues they call it. The hormones made me cry when I watch shows. Like one day I watched How to Train Your Dragon 2 over dinner. When Toothless got caught, I thought Toothless was gonna die and I cried. -______-” Usually I’m a tough cookie. I only laugh at people who cry at shows. Or like Susu, watch MTV also can cry and I’ll laugh at her. So bad I know. HAHAHAHA!
I have evil thoughts from the blues, about suffocating my kid with pillows, and other evil stuff which I’m not going to share here in case people starts getting very concerned and say things like I won’t be a good mother, or try to take my kid away from me. I’ll find you and I’ll hunt you down. -_____-”
It’s hard for me to have positive happy thoughts, so we’ll see how it goes. LOL!
9. How about the baby gender, do you want a girl or a boy?
Boy or girl, doesn’t matter as long as the baby is healthy and happy. But of course for the sake of the in laws since my boss being the only son, a boy would be a bonus to them.
Ok right now I can only think of 9 questions. HAHAHAHAHA! If any one of you have any questions or wish to have your curiosity satisfied, feel free to drop an email to us! contactme AT raymondphang DOT com. Don’t worry I won’t feel offended, very open one. 😀
Cheers! 😀
Backache+Sore feet Baby terroriser-to-be,
Angeline
www.raymondphang.com
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