1st Trimester Pics of my baby and me

Hello! Long time no blog! lol

I would like to dedicate this entry to my 3 caring parents (love you daddy and mummies!), and to my best friend Hannah. This update is specially for you all! Sorry I didn't update much...I'm 13 weeks plus now, officially in my Second Trimester! :-D

I've been really busy, looking for a new apartment and all. I'll have to move next month, as my lease is up at the end of May. I'm also looking to plan the house in the Montessori way as much as it is realistic( it is very appropriate for 0-3 years). All I need to do is make sure that the child is able to explore the environment by allowing things like the bed, shelves, a table and chair to be baby-proofed and appropriate to the child's size height. It supposedly promotes a safer environment, and a calmer independent child. So yeah, moving, planning and building a nursery is going to take up quite a bit of my time for the next few months.

My first trimester has been relatively ok I guess. I will always try to make sure I take organic whole milk and my pre-natal vitamins. I don't get cravings... I think...but I seem to like potatoes a lot more than I used to. More remarkably, I get "turn-offs". For example, there's this Vietnamese beef stew that is my favourite pre-pregnancy. Currently, I don't mind the sauce, but biting into the beef makes me wanna puke. But it changes. There was a time I was consistently turned off by chicken meat. I had to eat the meat along with lots of ginger (to mask the taste) in my mouth to be table to swallow it. I seem to be fine with pork though. And Cornish hen. I never get turned off by fruits, and that's a wonderful thing. But strangely, chocolate turns me off sometimes :O *gasp*!

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When I found out I was pregnant, I made an appointment with my Obstetrician as soon as I could. So at 6 weeks, I went for my first appointment, and saw my baby via an cervical sonogram.

Unfortunately, I had a horrible time at the clinic. I did not know that they had to draw my blood on my first visit. I have Trypanophobia.
They must have thought that I was troublesome. :(

This is six vials of blood.

I asked my doctor if she could stay around during the blood draw and she said "no". I said "why" and she said "because I have to see other patients". I gave her the benefit of the doubt. After that traumatic tearful experience, I was happy it was over and waited to speak to my doctor. She was a doctor that I saw as a gynae for the past 2 years. She was always nice and patient. but this time...I don't know what happened... I was asking questions as a newly pregnant mother and her answers seemed to ridicule me. Maybe it was because nobody ever asked her to stay while drawing blood. I was hoping for compassion, after all she would be the lady delivering my child. For example, when I told her that I feel nausea and sour foods seemed to help she said "My, that's counter-intuitive. Most mothers would stuff themselves with carbohydrates instead." I'm like WHAT?! o_O" Wouldn't that make them puke more instead? (And I've seen preggie pops sold in Motherhood and Pea in a Pod maternity shops, and these are sour candy to help with morning sickness. Well calling me counter-intuitive is one thing (but not a nice thing). But telling me that "look, I don't have time for you like this" and telling me to do some "soul-searching" when I asked her about the differences between an Obstetrician and a mid-wife was just alarming. I felt like I was treated like a troublesome person and was subtly insulted during the entire consultation. I felt like I could not have a trusting relationship with her, and I feel frightened to ask her any more questions in the future.

Something like that never happened to me before. I spoke to my sis-in-law Jess, and some details of my encounter stunned her as well. She gave me great advise - advise mainly to switch a doctor. Find a good, kind and highly recommended one. "You have to be confident that you can ask your doctor questions because there will surely be a lot along the way. You have to choose one you have a comfortable relationship with to deliver your baby." And she was right. If anybody ever had an experience like me, please don't feel  helpless (my husband and I did for a while). It is actually really easy to switch doctors, and you only need to sign 1 form to get your medical records transferred. :-)

At 8 weeks I found Village Obstetricians, and there every patient is under the care of 2 doctors, one male Dr. Mussali and one female Dr. Worth. They are both very warm, very kind, and were recommended by a highly experienced doula. Their expertise seems top notch and Dr. Mussali is even on the board of medical advisers for Johnson&Johnson's babycenter.com!!!

I was very happy to be there...but trouble (most anxiousness from my husband) loomed. It turned out that Village Obstetricians are not in my Health Insurance's Network. Still, I have out-of-network benefits, and the total I have to pay for such high quality care from my first visit all the way till my baby's birth is $1250 max, and the health insurance will pay the rest of the customary billing. Very worth it if you ask me! This totally freaked my husband out, and in order to appease him, I spend numerous days over the next few weeks calling and talking to the health insurance company, Village Obstetrics, the other imaging centers that I will be referred to, and the hospital I would be delivering in. I was very sad that my first trimester was filled with such stress.

A finger-prick test at 9 weeks. This is for trisomy 13, 18 and 21 testing.

At 11 weeks, all the insurance drama with hubby has ended. Once my husband was satisfied with all the terms and conditions possible, I had a happy peaceful time, no longer worried I have to switch away from the excellent care of Village Obstetrics. Can't blame him, he wants to make sure of our financial situation, and I just want the best care for my child.


I had my genetic sonogram and Carnegie Imaging Center (referred from Village Obstetrics). And this is one of the best times I've had.

Can you see my baby? The foetus was so active throughout the screening! So cute.

And this was my genetic screening result! Counting in my age, my finger-prick hormones and my sonogram measurements, the risk after screening for Trisomy 13, 18, or 21 has decreased to 1 in 10,000. That's the best possible result. Doctor says that my result is equivilent to a 20 year old. lol so glad.

Finally I have arrived at the end of my first trimester. Here's a picture of me and my funny looking bump at 12 weeks.

I was hoping that it would look nice and round...but don't you feel it looks like a little mountain? Hehe

I'll try to take pictures of myself every 4 weeks from now on and update you all.

With lots of love.

Bought a puj tub

I bought something interesting yesterday for the baby, click to play the videos below to see what it is. :) The lady in the first video is actually one of the product developers. The next 2 are independent reviews who talk about what they think after using the product.

The usual price is US$40. I bought it from another pregnant mom yesterday because she had 2. She's a first-time mommy due in 2-3 months time. She bought one for herself, and during a baby shower her friend bought her one too. So she sold her extra one to me for $20.

It's a great product because most tubs are too big and the baby can slide around inside even when buckled. New-borns barely have neck control and are not to be able to sit up, and can drown in just 2 inches of water.