30wks 4days

We did our 30th week check up on mon and boy it was a close one.

Twin A is now 1.2kg which doc says is abit on the smaller side. Twin B is 1.385kg which is within range. Both water bags are around 3cm which is of acceptable size. Mummy gained 1kg since last check up. I guess I will continue to gain weight le..bye bye to the days where bbs gain weight and mummy didnt. Boo hoo.

But the problem lies with mummy me. Didnt clear the urine test 1st thing in the morning. Little traces of sugar were found in my urine sample. But I did pass my OGTT 4wks ago.. Scary lo. The nurse told me perhaps its due to my breakfast that morning. 2 pancakes and a cup of coffee. Muz take note le. Gynae however was not very concern on this and let it slide.

The more pressing issue is my blood pressure which will have different readings using different machines. And the damn machine in ADC always give a rocket high reading that sent the doc into panic mode. Imagine seeing my blood pressure at 152/90 early in the morning. It is enough to call for admission straight away.

Anyways I always got this problem there la. Not sure is whether I too kan cheong or what. But then I managed to clear the readings at downstairs clinic and was let home. Heng ar. Please let my pressure be good for the next few check ups till birth can? I try to control my salt intake too which is not alot to start with since mummy did most of the cooking now.

And ya I met my new gynae already who still remmebers me as once her patient for cerclage. She told me that she was happy that we managed to hold till now and is pleased with our progress. She foresee that if we continue to do as good, we will be able to hold till the scheduled date for birth.

Am really relieve to hear this from her since it was stated that she deals with high risk pregnancies. In contrast, I sometimes dread to meet the doc on duty in ADC. While they are expressionless while we are in good shape, if the report comes out abit bad they make it sound a lot worse. Many a times it makes me kan cheong over what they say.

I was telling my new gynae that the docs in ADC were not trained well enough to deal with pregnant mothers and I hate their review sessions. Not all of them la but most of them since its on rotation basis. I'm so glad that this check up was reviewed and cleared by my new gynae since twin A is abit small now and my sugar and bp was borderline passing. Not sure what how they will deal with it had it been them who cleared me.

And so the latest news is ADC forgot about me when they say they will call me back with an appointment time once my gynae review that day's result. I had to call back to KKH central booking to check who in turn check with ADC. I suspect that my case notes were not sent up after my review and ADC confirm the same. Its likr what my Sonographer told me, I'm more or less quite well versed with their procedures since been reporting there bi weekly.

The next scan at 32nd weeks will check for blood flow in babies again which is more detailed than normal weight and water bag checking. So I'm not keen to miss it. Oh well, I give then till new Monday to get back to me since they need go search for my case file and should they not call. I'm going call n chase again.

Sometimes it's just frustrating that as a private patient with KKH, I'm not getting the premium service since many a times I need to be more alert than them. But for sake of my twinnies, I would choose KKH even I get to choose again.

Happy holidays everyone. Its counting down to 5weeks before twinnies’s scheduled birth. Please let it be a smooth wait till then.

A Quiet Christmas_ 30wks 3days

This is by far the most quiet Xmas we had with me lying in bed most of the time since it is not comfortable lying on sofa anymore with me needing more space to turn now. However, I'm looking pretty forward to next yr Xmas where we will have 2new family members in our household.

Mummy went back to Msia with piggy bro over the wkend and came back with alot of juicy news to entertain me haha. So next week will be a busy week while we 2 have topics to discuss haha.

I had realised a cool party trick of my twinnies. Not sure is my voice or tapping on my tum tum but twin B will respond by tapping too whenever I tap my tum tum and call his name.. wanna let him get use to his name 1st.. haha and they will give a. hard kick to their papa's ear whenever he calls out to them. Its cool and Mr Love enjoy putting his ears close to my tum tum to listen to their movements.

Their papa also cooked our favourite food- Salmon with pasta over the Xmas weekend as our Xmas dinner this year. After having all chinese food whole week while mummy is cooking, Mr Love would make western food for us to give us a change in variety. But this Xmas, I'm actually craving for Korean food. Haha.

Mr Love brought back from his colleague a changing station and some goodies they had left over from their boy and he spend the night fixing the station. 1st time he did on his own and I'm proud of him since he is not very good in handy work.

This poor papa had to go shopping for his new year clothes on his own too. I will accompany him to choose and buy clothes previously. He is pretty dependent on me so much so that he forgot his shirt and shoes size and had to text me from the mall. Faints. How can someone not know his own sizes? 

Not surprisingly he didn't managed to get new shirts since he couldn't decide on the designs and furthermore he is rushing through the shopping since I'm home alone. Well gotta wait till after I give birth then we can maybe sneak out for some quick shopping some day. Haha. But since he is taking long leave for my confinement, he is in no hurry to buy new shirts yet.

I'm actually contemplating to buy new clothes for twinnies to wear for the 1st day of CNY but on 2nd tots, we will not be going out and I do have some new onesies that piggy bro brought from Aust. Just not sure whether they fits or not.

Well Xmas weekend is coming to an end soon and tomorrow will be a brand new week. Time pretty much flew by fast this week and we enjoyed the time Mr Love is with us full day.

Gotta go for our 30th week follow up tomorrow morning and hope all will be well. Count down to D day in 5+weeks time and I hope everything will be fine in tomorrow check up.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Randomness on Christmas Eve 2015

>> It's Xmas eve today and for once I need not work. Hohoho Will usually not take leave on today since 1). My leave will be consumed by this time. 2). It's year end period 3). I secretly love gifts exchange on today. Haha But I'm now lying in bed with my twinnies waiting for their daddy to come home with breakfast. Hohoho.

>> My much trusted LG G4 died on me yesterday. FML. Was really dependent on a phone nowadays for entertainment. Lucky Mr Love have got a spare Redmi Note 2 to loan me. Abit laggy la this phone but better than the ancient Nokia non smart phone right. The not so lucky part is I didnt do a backup for my phone and everything from contacts, photos, apps and of course my games progress are gone. Really FML.

>> Thank god for Mr Love who tried his best to save my phone but to no avail. But he woke 

up early this morning to send it to repair centre for me.

>> We skipped on Xmas gift exchange this year at home. With me grounded and the twinnies arriving, there is simply no time to shop or spare monies to buy much. The sweet hubby did ask me whether I want continue my usual request for gold bracelets. But I reckon to wait till I give birth since I'm afraid my hands will swell later on and size would change. Then again, I don't have the luxury to go shopping now. And he didn't even bother to tell me what he wants this year. Guess the biggest gift to us are the twinnies and their well being.

>>  I'm so tempted to buy the pretty dresses that the online shops are selling for CNY now but am afraid I couldn't fit in after birth. Please dont let me become even fatter..

>> On the other hand, gave my mummy some monies to ask her get CNY clothes for herself. This is the 1st time in many years that I didn't accompany her to shop for her clothes. Not even last year when I had the op. She asked me go for an quick round on the day I'm discharge. She is a fussy shopper and not many can stand her shopping habits or know what she wants. Furthermore, I'm the paymaster of her CNY clothes. We will agree on a lump sum and she gets refunded on the unused amount in cash after shopping. This way she will not lost out if the clothes turns out to be cheaper than my budget. Haha.

>> I'm waiting eagerly for the new Melissa shoes I've got during black Friday sales. Realized from my time hop that its exactly 2years ago today that my 1st 2 pairs of Melissa shoes arrived. Think I got from some promotions from the same online seller. Hehe. It's off season shoes but who cares? It's much cheaper and have got the designs I like. Win win situation for me hehe. Furthermore the shoes damn lasting. Still wearing them now though my collection certainly expand during these 2 years.

>> For the longest time, I'm drawn to the Pandora charm braclets but couldn't bear to buy because of the pricing. I mean with the same amount of monies, I could buy my gold bracelet which will appreciate in time to come. I've finally found the solution without breaking my bank. Haha Buy the charms from Taobao at a fraction of it's cost. The wonder of MIC they copied every design. Haha the only thing I hope is, it's really silver that they are using. But you never know. I've yet to buy since there are alot of sellers around and I wanna compare the prices and also reviews to get the best replica at best price. Muhaha cheapo much? Buy anyways the bracelet I brought is the real deal though is a discount item from past season. Maybe just maybe I would slowly buy the charms from store here to reward myself once in a while. But I doubt so since my expenses will be rocket high very soon.

>> I realised as we advanced through the pregnancy, I can feel my moods more readily. Not sure how to explain but sometimes when I lie there feeling the twinnies kick, I can suddenly feel a 

gush of love from them travelling to my heart. And I will give them a hug to let them know I love them too. Beauty of carrying children, Mr Love totally don't get it when I relate to him. Haha He only can look at me enviously. Muhaha.

>>We are at exactly week 30 today and have 6more weeks to go. Praying hard that we can hold till then. On the end hand, twinnies' action are getting more and more vigorous. Yesterday, 1 of twin A's limb protruded out of my tum tum while he stretches himself haha. Making me abit painful while lying on his side since its poking out. I gave him a gentle rub and told him to change to a more comfortable position for both of us and he did! Such good boy. Haha Hopefully he will be as good when he comes out. Haha

>>Mr Love had finally decide on their Christian names. Haha told him to make the decision since he actually don't wanna give them a Christian name initially. But he reckons its easier for them to have one too. So he finally decided on the names 2nights ago. Their chinese names are decided by me and my mum. Haha so we are settled on their names yay...

Ok, I shall end this random posting here and go for my breakfast. Happy holidays everyone and may your 2016 be a blast!

Battling insomnia-29wks3days

I wasn't someone to suffer from insomnia since can usually sleep alot but to be lying down for at least 22hrs a day, sometimes I will fall asleep at random time and therefore suffer from insomnia now during nights.

I also realised that twinnies are more active during night time. Both will be kicking actively when I lie on either sides and sometimes it takes me quite a while to sleep cuz of the kicking.

I try all sorts of way to tired myself out just before bed time but even though I managed to sleep, sometimes will wake up at 2am and stay awake till 6am. Then when eventually sleep back, Mr Love will be up for work at 6.45am. We will usually be awake as Mr Love gets ready and try to sleep back after daddy gives his morning goodbye kisses. This is the timing we sleep best till 9.30am when twinnies will start asking for breakie.

So what do I do when there is no way to sleep? I let things be and start surfing net. Haha. But then it is not that easy given I need lie on sides and gets abit uncomfortable if I hold the phone for too long. Changing sides is another challenge since my tum tum is getting bigger.

Some nights if we get too bored from surfing net, we will just turn to papa's side and watch him sleep. Haha. Sometimes his gentle snores will put us to sleep too.

If all else fails I would just toss n turn in bed, allowing myself to day dream abit on how life would be when the twinnies are out. Despite many telling me that life will be hard when the twinnies come along, I really look forward to carrying them in my arms instead of hugging my tum tum now only.

I would also do some prayers at night hoping that my twinnies will be born matured and healthy. This is usually my quiet time trying to seek solace from god.

I know this insomnia phase would past somehow and soon I might get not much sleep with arrival of the twinnies. Which is why I try to enjoy this phase now. It's actually quite therapeutic to just lie there and feel the twinnies kick around. It makes me relieve that they are active, it makes me grateful that they are holding on as per what I told them. Most of all it makes every passing day a blessing knowing that they will be more healthy when they are born as we advanced through the pregnancy.

Till they are ready for the world, I would continue to lie and overcome whatever it may come. For this is for the twinnies' best interest.

28wks 1day

We did our 28wks Doppler scan today and was happy to hear the twinnies' growth are on track. Not sure about singleton pregnancy but for multiples pregnancy, we are subjected to Doppler test every 4 weeks to check the blood flow to brain, heart and cord.

And in between every 2wks is checking of babies' growth and water bag level. So we report to the hospital bi-weekly for scan. So much so that the sonographer commented I'm quite familiar with their procedures already.

So today's weight check for twinnies are 950g and 1.05kg with both having 4.1cm water bag. Gynae say they are on track for growth.  But I gained 1 freaking kg from last check. This is the biggest jump yet. Haha. Hopefully don't jump so fast else I will become a fatty soon.

And the news today is my gynae informed us that he is not delivering any more from next year and he is gonna transfer me to another gynae. Luckily for me, the transfer is to the gynae who did my cerclage and she is the HOD of dunno what department in KKH which essentially makes her an experience doc too. 

But I'm actually puzzled on why my gynae did not informed me when he first took up my case. I could have changed to another gynae instead of waiting till now. But in my case, there is not much of a difference since twinnies are monitored by ADC instead of chosen gynae. Just that dun really feel good about mid way transfer.

I keep wondering whether is my case that gets transferred only due to the complications or what. There isn't much review on my new gynae and she runs limited clinic sessions. Not exactly full time delivering babies I think. But there is no doubt on her expertise since she did my cerclage and she is considered the top in this area. 

Also I managed to clear my OGTT and I'm over the moon. Was stressed about having to prick myself should I not pass. But I'm warned to still watch my diet since I'm carrying twinnies.

Doc say risk they are monitoring now is my blood pressure which is on the high side though still within range. Sianz. Not sure whether is because I'm kan cheong but the bloody bp is usually high when I go for bi weekly tests. Not willing to go back for half day monitoring at ODAC again to waste monies. So far my urine tests are still good. 

Please let it be good all the way till the twinnies are ready for appearance. And of cuz my babies to be growing well and on par till then.

Korea Late Winter Sonata 2015 -Seoul - Visit to DMZ JSA area

I am always fascinated by the DMZ separating 2 countries that could have been one. There is no greater difference of 2 countries that is so near yet so far. While many others had reunified, these 2 remains technically at war.

When we visited South Korea in 2009 for our honeymoon, DMZ was not part of my tour group itinerary. Because we are having a free & easy tour this time, I decided to book a local tour group to DMZ to see for myself just how divided the 2 Korea are.

There are a few agencies that offer such tour but I chose to book one with Koridoor for their prices and comprehensive itineraries after much consideration.

Our tour pass

Cost of each Adult is priced at KRW 96,000 ( SGD 120) and we can choose to submit our credit card details and sign the slip on the day of the tour or to pay cash 3 days before the tour.

I wasn't too comfortable to submit my CC details and therefore choose to make a trip down on our day of arrival to pay the fee 1st before going to Busan.


To get to Camp Kim USO:

1). Take subway to Samgakji station (Line4,6)
 2). Take exit 10 (Line 6) or exit 6 (Line 4)

3a). For Line 6, exit 10 after exiting, walk straight for 500m and you will see the main gate that states Camp Kim. 

3b). For Line 4, exit 6 walk straight and cross the zebra crossing and you will come to face to face  with a big junction. Cross opposite and walk straight and you will see Line 6, exit 10. Then walk straight to Camp Kim.

Barricade nearing JSA

Barren lands along the way

We were told to report to Camp Kim at 7am for departure and also to wear proper attire to avoid rejected for the tour. We are also required to bring our passports for re-verification. There were quite a lot of people for this tour and we are the only 2 from our country. The journey up to the border is about 2 hours which we took the chance to catch up on sleep.

Barbed wire nearing border

You can actually feel the difference as we neared the DMZ. Barbed wires, barricades, barren lands, increased presence of military all indicates the tension, never in our life had we seen borders like that. The tour guide also informed us that no photo taking are allowed in the camp unless told.

Waiting outside the camp

We were brought into Camp Bonifas which have Korean and US armies stationed there. A US soldier were assigned as our chaperon who will accompany us in the camp and to ensure our safety.

We were brought to a briefing next on the history and also safety around this camp.

Thumb of rule here is to be orderly at all times, staying in twos while walking around. No rude gestures should be made towards the North side to prevent unnecessary trouble. No photos of the South side building is to be taken at any time unless permission granted by chaperon. We can however take photos of the North side from where we are standing from the South. Not that it had much scenery though.

Freedom House

The greyish building behind Freedom House belongs to North Korea. There are Guards there watching us as we tour the area here. Actually inside the Freedom House, it's divided into 2 where after the line, it's essentially North Korea soil. This is the closest that we could get to the North side.

There are 2 South Korean soldiers inside the Freedom House on duty and we are allowed to take pictures not the room.

This is essentially a neutral ground meeting room where representatives from both side can meet and discuss matters. Not dude whether anything had taken place here or not. 

One interesting thing to note is that the soldiers here are standing with their fists clenched in a fighting stance so as to prepare for any emergency situation. And boy, they sure look fierce.

We were then brought back to our bus where it will take us to an incident side which soldiers were hack to death over a tree.

Dear Babies

Dear Babies,

Mummy is writing to both of you guys while the 3 of us laze around on the sofa passing time and mummy is enjoying your kicks as you two take lunch that mummy had an hour ago.

Yesterday night was pretty tiring since you two decided to be active from 11pm onwards. No matter which way mummy turns, one of you will be unhappy since you each take 1 side of mummy's tummy and I cannot sleep flat on my back since it was supposed to be no good to you all. Worst of all, daddy is snoring peacefully besides us and mummy needs to be careful not to wake him up since he had to work today.

Times like that makes me feel relieved that I'm on hospitalisation leave at home, else we will be too tired for work the next morning. After much cooing and patting on both side of tummy then you two slowly fell asleep. Is this the training you are giving mummy for night feeds next time ? Haha.

This week marks the 7th week that we are lying on bed. You know mummy is so proud and relieved that both of you are holding on inside despite the initial scare? Continue to hold for another 8wks + and doc will bring you all out ok? Also continue to eat and absorb well from mummy so that you will be of good size when you come out ok?

Ah Ma had been busy for the past few weeks preparing things for you two arrival and we are more or less done. She had also been cooking good food and making sure we all have enough to eat and are eating well so make sure you two be nice and good to her when you grow up kk? For she started worrying for you all ever since she know about your presence.

Mummy hope that all the daily talking to you all will make you recognise my voice and have a calming effect when you two fuss next time. This is why I insist your papa to talk to you all daily too though your Ah Ma thinks mummy is suffering from pre natal blues and behaving oddly.

Mummy is looking forward to this week's checkup to see how well you two have grow and hopefully everything is on track for us three.

Meanwhile, stay well and eat well inside mummy till you two are ready for appearance kk? Mummy will try my best for you two and hope you two will cooperate too. Fighting!!!

26wks 6days

My bbs are of a corn's length now according to the web though sonographer didn't give us measurements.

But I was told of their weight at 26weeks check up. Both are at 770+g with a 1.4% difference. Both are doing good. And they had each gained 200+g since last check up at 24wks.

You don't know how relieved I am whenever the sonographer say bbs are doing good and all I need is to wait for the duty doctor to give me the details but at least while waiting for duty doctor (which is usually a long wait) I'm quite at peace.

The funny thing is, I lost weight. Not much though at 200g but was a bit panicky since they will take my weight 1st then scan the bbs. I was wondering whether my boys are gaining enough. Luckily, they did absorb what I ate.

So the 2kg I gained till now is all the bbs and water bag weight. Thank god for it and hope it stays this way. Not that I intentionally curb my diet or anything but juz didn't gain much. But I guess is partly due to eating healthily now that I'm eating mummy's home cook food. She watches like an eagle on my diet. Don't think she was this strict with herself when she had us.

Still I can feel my appetite increasing when we hit 26wks. So I reckon the next check will see a huge jump in the numbers and hope bbs can absorb as well as they did all along.

Went for OGTT too and it was torturing. Had to fast from 12am from the night before with no food and drink. Then took a tube of blood at 8.50am. It was actually scheduled for 8.30am and I reached at 8am. Dunno why they drag 20mins for the scheduled test.

Then was made to drink a super sweet (yucky) glucose drink which I'm suppose to finish in 5-10min. For a long time, I didnt drink sweet drinks especially so after I got pregnant. And so the glucose drink was a shock to my taste buds. Nurse allowed a little sip of warm water to wash down the taste.

The next test is 2hrs later at 10.50am which is to determine how I will react to the glucose drink. Am not suppose to eat and drink within this time frame too. I saw some mummies to be posting that they vomit out the drink after that and need retest and was stress bout it.

Nurse also instruct me to go straight back to them should I vomit out the drink. Was praying hard that I wouldn't. I did feel nauseas at some point but feel that it was due to hunger. Bbs are kicking around by 10.30am. Keep whispering to them that we will soon take brunch after the blood test.

We only start our 1st meal at 11am and by then I don't dare to stuff myself too full. Hopefully need not go through it again since its hard for pregnant ladies to curb their hunger.

Till today, we have not hear from hospital on the results and I hope no news is good news since friends told me that hospital will call should the results turn out bad. Else I can review the results when I'm due for the next check up at 28wks.

Praying hard that everything will be smooth from now till bbs' scheduled birth in Feb 16.