Ninth Gynae Visit

We visited the gynae immediately the next day (on 18 July) after I got back to Singapore. Sweetheart has been staying at Steven and Anita's place, and I understand that her brother and his entire family has taken good care of her.

Today, I know that Dr Yang will definitely be measuring Baby girl to see how much weight she has put on...and to our pleasant surprise, Baby girl has put on about 1kg during this four-week period! Officially, she is about 2.6kg now, so Sweetheart and I are both very happy. Actually, Sweetheart has not gained much weight since the pregnancy -- as of now, she has only gained about 7kg, so I'm happy that Baby is at least growing well.

Dr Yang said that as Baby gets bigger, it gets harder to see Baby girl. However, we do have a photo of Baby's face here:
In the photo above, you can actually see Baby's eye socket and nose! Baby is at the right "down-ward" position, but still not yet "engaged", so that's good. Also, Baby girl's heartbeat was being monitored today, and we are happy to state that so far, everything is good!


We also did more shopping, and here are some stuff we bought (with the "mothers vogue" baju from Nikki) in preparation for Baby's arrival:


We estimate that Sweetheart will be giving birth during the first 2 weeks of August. This means that within two to three weeks, I will be a father! Wow...not sure if I'll be able to handle this new experience, but then again, I will do my absolute best!

Eighth Gynae Visit

Sweetheart and I went for our eighth gynae visit on 1 July. Because it was barely a week since we saw the gynae, Dr Yang did not take measurements on Baby but instead checked on the water-level, etc. She said that everything appears to be normal, so that's good.

I was rather disappointed that the gynae did not want to measure Baby girl. After all, I've brought Sweetheart all over Singapore to eat all the things she wanted to eat, in the hope that Baby girl will put on weight. Hence, I wanted to know if my effort yielded results. However, since Dr Yang didn't want to take measurements on Baby, I left it as that.

While I was in Singapore, Sweetheart and I also went shopping for Baby's stuff. Here is a photo of some things we bought:


Having a baby is no easy feat; there are so many things to do and so many things that one can worry about! I really hope I can be a good father to my daughter, and supportive husband to my wife, especially during the deliver!

Seventh Gynae Visit

Sweetheart and I returned to Singapore slightly ahead of schedule; we were supposed to return on 29 June, but because she has not been putting on much weight since her pregnancy, I was concerned that maybe it was her thyroid problem that was playing up. Hence, we returned to Singapore on 17 June in order to see her Endocrinologist on 18 June, and the Gynae on 21 June.

We were really happy that Dr Soon reported that Sweetheart's thyroid condition is under control. However, we found out that she had only put on 5kg since her pregnancy! Definitely too little weight was gained, but I hoped that my Baby is still growing well. Hence, you can image my tension when we saw the Gynae...

Here's an ultrasound scan taken during the Gynae visit on 21 June:


The ultrascan shows our Baby's head, face, and upper body. You can even see the eye sockets and mouth!

Here's another photo of our Baby. The arrow is supposed to confirm that we have a daughter, but seriously, I'm not sure what to look out for there!


Dr Yang confirmed that our baby is on the "low-end" of the size scale. Apparently, during that couple of months when we were away, our Baby has not been growing as well as when we were in Singapore. I guess it could be because of the food, but anyway, what the Gynae suggest is for Sweetheart to rest more and eat more food. Hopefully our Baby can grow bigger during this final stretch!

Will be seeing Dr Yang again on 1 July to check on Baby's growth, so let's hope the week's nutrition has beefed her up!

Sixth Gynae Visit

Sweetheart and I went for our sixth gynae visit on 13 Apr. This visit is rather important as Dr Yang was to perform more detailed scanning of our Baby, such as looking at the limbs, bones, etc. According to Dr Yang, we have a really active baby, but than again, we already knew that! Sweetheart has been "complaining" that our Baby is very active and constantly moving about; kicking, pushing and all.

Here's a photo that shows our Baby's face. In this photo, you can see the eye-sockets and also the jaws rather clearly:

In this photo, which focuses on our Baby's mouth, you can actually see the tongue!

In this photo, you can see our Baby's face quite clearly. Pretty, right? :)


In this photo, you can see all five fingers on one of our Baby's hands:


And in this photo, you can see our Baby showing that she's Number 1 (i.e. the index finger is pointed)
And in this photo, you can see our Baby's feet! It's not that easy to see, but if you look closely at the middle-left section of the ultra-scan photo, you should be able to make it out...



Finally, here's further evidence that we do indeed have a Baby girl. See the "folds" where the arrow is pointing? That's the backside area...so there you have it...a Baby Girl! :)

More clothes for Baby!

Sorry Baby! Daddy has been so busy these past few weeks! Only now Daddy has some time to put up these photos for you!

So anyway, I did manage to go to Bicester Village to do some shopping during my recent UK trip. I also spent some time in London and was at the Emirates Stadium and so, I bought more clothes!

Here's a pink dress I bought:

So cute...right? :)

And here's a nice white pair of shoes:


Sweetheart said that those look like ballet shoes, and asked if I want our Baby girl to learn ballet when she grows up. Naturally, my response was "only if she wants to!" :)

Here's a dress I bought at the Emirates Stadium:



I think I bought mainly pink-coloured clothes in order to counter balance the blue ones I bought the last time!

The bills are tallying up...so future husband, beware!

First Clothes for Baby!

I am currently back in England on a business trip. For some strange reason, I enjoy shopping in the UK and the US. I think it is because there is much more space here to walk around, browse, and move freely about. There is just no space for very leisure shopping in Asia, especially Singapore. Anyway, I am presently at Hatfield, and the best shopping place here is The Galleria! Hence, I spent some time shopping for baby clothes, and these are the first clothes I have bought for our baby!

Here is an overview of the clothes I have bought at Gap:

This is the traditional "white" baby clothes that my baby would probably wear when coming home:

And this the clothes my baby would probably wear during the "one-month introduction". The words "just add milk" simply seems so appropriate! ;)


And I bought this because I think my baby would look super-cool in it!

Of course, I did buy some stuff for Sweetheart and also myself:


Can't wait to go shopping again (Bicester Village?) ...LOL...

Fifth Gynae Visit

Sweetheart and I went for our fifth gynae visit yesterday. We were very excited to find out, with a greater amount of certainty, the sex of our baby. While scanning during the previous check-up, Dr Yang had said that her sense is that it's probably a girl. Then, while on the plane back to Singapore, I noticed Sweetheart's behaviour and mannerism, and I just had a feeling that "it's a girl!". So I turned to her and told her "to be prepared" that it's most likely "a girl". I think she felt quite strongly that it's going to be a boy, but my sense of such things is seldom wrong. Hence, the visit to the gynae was particularly exciting!

Here's a photo of our baby -- head on the right, and the eye sockets are rather distinct. Can you guess what sex is our baby, just by looking at this photo?

Here is another photo -- this time, the head is on the left, and our baby's face is clearer. In fact, the entire face is visible! So how? What do you think? Boy or a girl? (Hint: Notice the sharp features)


Here's a photo of our baby (you are looking at the backside and legs)...if you look closely, you can see an arrow, which shows some "folds" at the crotch area. Hence....it's a GIRL!

Well, since we are having a girl, it is absolutely important that Sweetheart nourishes herself well. After all, girls must have beauty and brains! Thanks to Kelvin's friend (who is married to a Bird Nest tycoon's daughter in Indonesia), we managed to buy 1kg of Bird's Nest at a good price!

I am already keeping all the receipts of things I have spent on my daughter in which her future husband have to "pay off" in order to "redeem" her...LOL...

Fourth Gynae Check-up

Today we went for our 4th gynae check-up, and I must say that it was a very exciting visit for us. Firstly, we have not seen Baby for about five weeks already, and we miss Baby and were wondering how Baby is doing. Secondly, we know that Baby would be well-formed by now and would resemble what is in our minds the concept of a real "baby". Lastly, we wanted to be assured that our Baby is fine and wanted to seek some reassurance from Dr Yang. We had seen Dr Soon the previous day, and Sweetheart's thyroid condition is in check, even though she needs to increase her medical dosage (which is normal).

And indeed...it was an exciting day for us! We got to see Baby swallowing saliva, kicking, pushing, moving, etc! And Baby's heartbeat is as strong as before!

Here are some photos...

The photo below shows our Baby sucking thumb! As you can see, the baby is slightly larger than 6.5cm, which is inline with being about 13 weeks old. Baby was moving a lot, moving arms and legs when Dr Yang was doing the ultra-scan. Such a smart Baby! Knows how to defence oneself! :)


The photo below shows Baby waving at the world...as if saying "Hello, World!" with a high-five!



And here's a photo of Baby looking directly at the ultra-scan, saying "How's it going, mate!" You can also see Baby's arms waving ;)



As we were also doing a Nuchal Translucency (NT) scan, Baby had to be in a specific position whereby Dr Yang can measure the length of collection of fluid under the skin at the back of Baby's neck. However, Baby was not in the right position after scanning for over 5 minutes, so we went for a short walk and returned later to rescan. Dr Yang was saying that, in the worst case, it could take multiple attempts to catch Baby in the right position for the measurement. We talked to Baby, and after 10 minutes of walking about (and buying some stuff), we went for a rescan and Baby was cooperative this time! Naturally, this was because we talked to Baby in order to explain the benefits of cooperating ;) The measurement taken by Dr Yang is 1.3mm (which is very good), but we are still waiting for the results of the blood test as a double confirmation of an overall sign that Down's is highly unlikely.

Here's another photo of Baby, this one showing Baby taking a quick rest:



Finally, here's Dr Yang's attempt at determining the sex (too early to tell, I say!). At this stage, Dr Yang says it might be a..........................GIRL! But naturally, she can't be sure at this stage, so we'll only know for sure at a later stage!


See you again soon, Baby! Continue to be strong for Daddy and Mummy, and grow strong and healthy! We love you!

Third Gynae Check-up

Today we had our third gynae check-up with Dr Mary Yang -- the third in three weeks. It is important for us that our Baby is growing well, and today's check-up proved just that! Our Baby has grown by 1cm during the week, and is about 1.5cm now. The photo below shows the ultra-scan image of our Baby:



Also, our Baby's heart is beating at a rate of 175bpm, which according to Dr Yang is a good thing. The photo below shows the strong heartbeat of our Baby:


These past few weeks, Sweetheart has been very tired and recently her appetite has not been very good. Also, she feels generally unwell but these are normal signs of pregnancy. With things more or less stable, we feel more comfortable about going to Nepal (this coming Monday). We will be back in Feb for another check-up with both Dr Yang and Dr Soon.

Baby, grow healthy and strong in Mummy's womb ok? We love you!