Empress' New Clothes

To kickstart things, here's a super cool top given by Aunty Selena...


Mommy, Daddy, Grandma(s) and Grandpa(s), and our dearest frens (thanks guys and gals for offering) have been busy stocking up on clothes and accessories for baby's arrival. No baby mannequins here so you'll have to apply a little bit of imagination for some of the clothes, but they do look really pretty. I'm getting sooo envious but to tell the truth, whilst shopping for baby's stuff, I also bought some polo tees and berms for myself as well. So it turned out to be a win-win situation after all.

Let the fashion show begin.

First up, the latest baby couture all the way from hip Bangkok Thailand. Highly fashionable, made with 90% cotton, 10% polyester. These full length tops will keep baby comfy and warm during the day and night, and also keep her looked "wicked" always.

Next, pretty frocks from U.S.A.


Baby cogs. Where else can you find more stylish cogs than these?




Lastly, beachwear imported all the way from U.S.A. With mummy and daddy beach go-ers, baby will need to be well prepared to turn heads at the beach.


Honestly, we're getting a bit overwhelmed and worried about preparations for baby's arrival, and also the seemingly unending things to purchase, from big bulky items like cots and strollers to small essentials like diaper rash cream and wet wipes. Mummy has written up a long list of items to get, but we would be so flustered if not for advice from present mummies. Thanks gals for your help and advice!

We're slowly and surely getting there, but we will probably need to pick up the pace really soon. Well, we'll be posting pics of baby's cots and others pretty soon.

The big day is coming soon, and as the days go by, mummy's tummy is growing bigger and bigger. At roundabout the fifth month mark, it seemed to undergo a growth spurt, and became bigger almost overnight. Now mummy is starting to complain about backaches and shoulderaches again. We've been forewarned by the pregnancy prep books we're reading, but the acts of rubbing massage lotion on mummy or giving her a back massage will be nothing compared to when we welcome the newest member of our family.

Yup, the third trimester is also the last three months we have as a 2 member family. Reading can only prepare us so much, but once our baby starts wailing, i think even the calmest-person-under-pressure will also have a slight flutter of heart and suffer a panic attack. Well, maybe that's looking too far ahead, there's still the birth (i.e. breathe in, breathe out, relax dear.... ohhh....ok...i'll stop being useless....stop biting my hand!!) and confinement (nope, cannot go out, cannot drink cold water, cannot shower, cannot be smelly....).

Our next journey will be to conquer (mount) "baby hyperstore" with aunty and uncle sri-zal to find the posh wheels for baby. Stay tuned.

Lastly, does claire sound british?

Mummy's outings

Now that I'm in my 2nd trimester (5.5 months to be exact), I'm definitely more energetic than the 1st trimester. Just a few weeks back, I caught up with some of the ex-KKH speechies for dinner at Sushi Tei and then we continued our banter at Menotti. As usual, it was a fabulous get-together with lots of laughter and good 'ol memories of our time working together 2 years ago at KKH. Miss ya gals! Cherine and Sue are missing from our gatherings these days but they are often fondly remembered and we get the latest updates from one another about their lives in Australia and UK.


Sri, Me, Bel, Em having our yummy desserts at Menotti. Can you spot who else is pregnant in the group?
Here's the current bunch of speechies now at KKH. We got a fresh and enthusiastic bunch working together now. From left there's Desiree, Grace, Joanna, Geraldine (the birthday gal!), Me and Yi Yui. Lisa was busy that day. We had a nice afternoon with good food and company.

Today's my 4th year anniversary of working in KKH! No wonder I find myself reminiscing. 2 more years of bond to go.....

Ok Tracy, will definitely post more pictures of us in the next few posts!

Its a gal!!

Well folks, it's confirmed, there's nothing between our babies legs, so, yup, u guessed it, he/she is now officially a she! Those cute little dresses which Mommy bought from the states can now be put to use!

Names names names... Natasha, Natalie, or Claire. In choosing a name, we were inevitably influenced by our friends or past encounters with people having those names. I had a fren by the name of "XXX" who had a bit of a BO problem, and when Mommy suggested that name, I was like.... "Noo.... Never.... ". That's just one name out of the entire list, so we've still gotta decide between the remaining choices. We somehow decided that we'll wait till the baby is born, and after taking a look at her face, we'll then go with the first name that comes to mind. So sexy and pretty would be Natasha, pretty would be Natalie, Sweet would be Claire......N then mommy adds, smelly would be "XXX"....hahaha

We discovered the gender of our baby during the 5th month scan this afternoon. Even before being born, the baby is starting to have character traits similar to Mommy and Daddy. In every scan that we've taken so far, she has always been on her back. Now, before your imagination runs wild, yup, Mommy and Daddy are rather lazy and would prefer lying in bed, than walking under the hot sun. And...baby has taken after us!

In the latest scan, Mommy and Daddy have agreed that the side profile of her face looks a bit more like Daddy. Hmm...in my opinion, that's not bad looking ain't it... U guys can decide for yourself.
I still think she looks like me. Ha!!

12cm and counting...

Well, like the ticker at the bottom of the blog constantly reminds us, 156 days left to go. Baby is still doing well, mummy as well.

Mummy had been complaining about the inverted 12wks scan picture which I uploaded previously, and i've finally changed it to the correct side up. Hmm...with all the Spidey fervour going around, I thought what's wrong with having baby sticking to the top of the womb? Hehe.. Guess mummy didn't see it that way.

Still can't tell gender of Baby yet. During the recent ultrasound, the radiographer mentioned that she still can't see the vital genitals to confirm Baby's a "he', and she also added that all babies are a "she" until some bits start sticking out.

Mummy had a minor sprained ankle during her trip to San Francisco. Luckily, it occurred close to the end of the trip, and she managed to get all her shopping and sightseeing done. No herbal concoctions could be applied to the ankle, she also hesitated to take some oral medication to ease the pain, so all she could do was to grit her teeth and try to sleep at night. Thankfully, the ankle's much better now, and mummy's definitely more mobile.

It's no mean feat to be able to lug 2 x 20kg of luggage, plus 2 big hand luggage bags from San Fran to HongKong to Spore! Thanks to the awfully kind airport staff and airline staff from UA!

Till next time....Seeya...

Pregnant Surprise!!

Oops. I was just reading thru my first post and realised I was supposed to tell the story of how we realised Mummy was pregnant! Here's how it goes...

A few days before Chinese New Year 2007, Mummy discovered she was late for her period. The thought that she might be pregnant crawled into our minds, and she was further compelled to check on it as she was due to conduct a screening test with radiation. At this point in time, we thought the delay was most likely due to a bout of illness she had about a week ago. So, we went to the nearest Guardian pharmacy, bought the cheapest China-brand test kit and went home. It was getting late, and the test kit said to conduct the test in the early morning for greatest accuracy, so I went to bed first. Mummy, being super curious and half concerned, decided to give the test a go. It turned out that the results were very very faint, and we could just make out a faint line indicating "pregnant". Well, the China-brand mentality then set in, hmm...maybe the kit was defective? So we turned in.

On hindsight, I'm just wondering why, in the first place, did we spend money on a cheap kit if we sort of knew we weren't gonna trust it anyway?

The next day at work, this issue was still playing on Mummy's mind, and she decided to purchase a more expensive, and definitely more reliable test kit for confirmation. It indicated "positive" again. But...she still wasn't convinced. And she still hadn't told me she tried another test. That night, she went to Vivocity with her work colleagues for dinner and they urged her to see a doctor w.r.t pregnancy. She did see a doctor who administered another test, and, guess what? She was pregnant!

Three pregnancy tests and three similar results, although the first one didn't seem very convincing, just to convince her that she was well and truly preggies!!

She still had to break the good news to me. She called me, told me she was pregnant, and I was like, "don't bluff la". Then, she passed the phone to her colleague who exclaimed "she's pregnant!!". I was slightly overwhelmed with joy (ok, that's an understatement...).

Similarly, I had to get 2 versions of the truth before finally believing. I guess that's why we're husband and wife right?

That's the rather melodramatic story of how we both found out we were welcoming a new addition into our family. Well, i'm sure as the pregnancy goes along, there will be more stories to share. Cheerios!!

Our First Trimester

Our first trimester has just passed. Mummy has gone for her 12 week scan and blood test, and I'm glad to announce that things are on track and the baby is healthy! I'm glad that the first trimester has passed really smoothly, with minor adjustments here and there. Mummy has been feeling very tired and feeling minor aches and pains in her back and shoulders, so I have to turn part-time masseuse, fruit cutter, late night "water fetch-er" etc....u get the point.

12 weeks scan

In another few weeks, we will be able to know the gender of the baby.....Boy or gal?

Honestly speaking, I'm rather neutral on this as each sex has their own traits, and that's not including the character of the baby itself. Speaking from personal experience, I feel boys are generally more active (i look forward to playing footie with my son and doing other sports like basketball or even sailing), generally less dependant (perhaps due to NS) and when they grow older and get married, tend to give in to their wives a lot more....heheh...Gals? Gals are generally sweeter, and more attached to their parents.

I guess parenting also plays a big part in their development and how they eventually turn out. Some frens have shared with me about their reluctance to have a baby as they're afraid that when the bundle of joy grows up, they would have to be responsible for his or her actions, good or bad. That's true in a sense, but I also feel that having a kid, becoming a parent, is also a very fulfilling experience. Here you have someone whom you can nurture, influence, someone whom you will witness growing from 1cm to 180cm and most importantly, someone who you are responsible for. You determine the sort of values this person develops based on his/her growing environment.

A baby also allows the parents to take their relationship a step further. Arguments are part and parcel of being married, but now, mum and dad get to participate together in the loving and nurturing of their own flesh and blood.

As you can see, I can't wait to welcome our new addition to my family.... Can u?

Welcome Note

Yes, we've finally been inspired and convinced to start posting.

Why blogging? Cos we wanna share all the good news in our lives with our frens and families.

What good news? Well, plenty. Some wiseman once said, life is always full of good news, it's which perspective you view them from. For starters, our small 2 person family is now 2 and a half....ok, mebbe not a half, but 2 and 0.2. Yup, Teresa is pregnant!

We are happy and yet apprehensive. Happy cos this pregnancy is something that we've talked about for quite a while, but apprehensive as we're unsure about how the pregnancy will turn out, and whether we're up to the responsibilities and challenges of bringing up our own kid. Heck, I still feel like a kiddo sometimes...

And now I'm going to be a father in eight months? Stay tuned for "Adventures of a Father-to-be"....

In our next post, we will share (rather unwillingly on my part) how we first discovered there was something growing in Teresa's tummy and our reactions....