My Horrid Affair with the Toilet Bowl

Posted on October 19, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress

I threw up my breakfast again this morning.

My son exclaimed, “Oh NOOOOoooo….not again, Mommy!”

Oh yeah, I am still battling nausea and throwing up.  Nothing much perks up my appetite these days, and I am left to contend with soupy noodles and rice with fried egg and lady’s fingers.

Such is my sorry state of affairs.  It’s the start of the 10th week now and I’m doing whatever I can to avoid all my energy getting drained off.  Scary stuff, you know…and psst….I’ve lost 1 kilo too! :O

Goodness knows how much cili padi I have consumed over the past week or so.  Almost anything I eat needs to be laced with cili padi.  It’s ironic, really, because pre-pregnancy, I didn’t really care much about that stuff.  Now I just treat cili padi as a means of downing my food.  I’m trying not to worry about it getting to my complexion though, hoping and praying that my estrogen levels will be high enough to battle the war of the pimples.

SIGH.

I’m also frustrated because my fatigue is affecting me big time.  I now no longer can go for Body Pump and RPM classes back to back, and even the Pump classes are making me feel tired.  Hubby says I can stop going, but then where will I get my exercise?  Swimming is still a no-go for now due to the haze.  And you know how tiredness and gym avoidance can turn into a vicious cycle.

So there.

I’m telling myself to hang in there, it will be over soon in a couple of weeks, but hey, this is getting too draggy.

*This post was drafted on August 8th 2012.*

Posted in Close to Heart & Home, Parenting & Motherhood, Thoughts & Scribblings | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

One Day At A Time

Posted on October 18, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress

The saying “taking it one day at a time” just doesn’t begin to express what I am going through now.  The nausea is getting worse and I cannot even look at food without feeling I need to throw it up.  Yep, it’s a full-fledged food battle I’m fighting now.

Thing is, most of the time, the food doesn’t come up.  I’ve only thrown up on a few occasions, but I definitely have lost most of my appetite for most of the food I used to love.  I can’t even cook now, because the sight of raw food just sets me off all over again, so it’s a trying time now for us.

Strangely enough, my “food swings” yoyo between one food to another from day to day.  I don’t like laksa as much now, but I find that I can tolerate the subs at Subway, provided they do not contain meat.  I’ve had the Veggie Delite without issue (albeit only with lettuce, tomatoes and bell peppers), and a few days ago, I hesitantly tried the breakfast strips with egg set…I know…some MEAT, right?  Thankfully it went down well with me.

I’ve also recently developed a craving for soupy dishes, like koay teow soup, or beehoon soup.  Don’t know how long this will last though.

Apart from the food aversions, fatigue is really getting to me.  My head feels heavy most of the time and I’m sleepy when I need to NOT be.

At the end of last week, we finally made an appointment to see my OB-GYN, and he confirmed baby is doing well.  We decided to bring the kids along for the visit and they were both so excited to see the flickering heartbeat on the baby on the monitor.   Ethan has been asking all sorts of questions, and Hannah told me she wanted the baby to come out right now! :O

One of the highlights of my week was when we were in church yesterday and during the part where we were all exchanging signs of peace, Ethan kissed my tummy and said he wanted to kiss the baby too! (Awwww…..)

I’m praying that will give me all the strength I need to conquer the coming week.  According to my calculations, I’m entering the 9th week now, and it’s supposedly the WORST in terms of nausea and illness during the 1st trimester. 🙁

*This post was drafted on July 30 2012*

Posted in Parenting & Motherhood, Thoughts & Scribblings | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Journey Begins Again

Posted on October 17, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress

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Well, turns out my previous attempt at subtlety in announcing something not-too-subtle backfired when it was apparently *too subtle* for anyone to figure out what my contorted mind was thinking.  Either that, or… well, perhaps no one ever reads what I write…. or worse….no one really cares. *pouts*

This post oughta put things into perspective.

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Finally, everything makes sense now.  The nausea, the tiredness, the aversion to smells and of course the disappearance of Aunt Flo.

The first trimester is going to be tiring, even more so now that I am only in my 5th or 6th week of pregnancy.  This is what I have been doing for the past few days:

  • Reading up and re-acclimatizing myself with the prenatal Body Pump techniques.  I did Pump till the 7th month when I was carrying Ethan, and I want to do the same now.
  • Fatigue is getting the best of me.  I need my afternoon shuteye now…although it’s admittedly more difficult with 2 other kids around.
  • I’m down and out very early at night – not very good considering that I have gotten into the routine of cleaning up after the kids have gone to bed.  Need to summon whatever energy I have.
  • Trying my best to cook…the smell and look of raw food puts me off completely though, so I’m gonna have trouble with that for a long time.  Might do takeout more often.  Gosh, even the smell of most of the food I cook puts me off.  Thankfully my family is still eating well.
  • Current cravings: Grapes, Laksa…but they change ever so often.  Most of the time I don’t feel like eating anything but when I stay away from food, I get nausea pangs too…what do I do?
  • Backache has begun – so soon??
  • Bloatedness is definitely not my thing.  Hate it.  Big time.
  • Been reading Having Three Kids.  Daunting, yes…and I have no idea what to expect.
  • Relieved that we did not throw most of our baby gear away yet.  Stroller: check. Changing table: check. Cot: check.  Playpen: check. Cloth diapers: super duper multiple checks! 😀
  • Readiness for #3: working on that!

*This post was drafted on July 18 2012* (except the text in the pink highlighted box at the top)

Posted in Close to Heart & Home, Parenting & Motherhood | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

My Book of Little Miracles’ Keepsakes

Posted on October 13, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress

My husband says I am a hoarder, but I beg to differ in that I selectively hoard things that I feel are worth keeping. .. just like ultrasound printouts from my pregnancies.  Who in their right minds throw these away anyway?

I’ve kept all the printouts away in an envelope, fully intending to “do something” with them, and it wasn’t until recently that I decided to put my thoughts to action.  I dug out some scrapbooking materials I had accumulated a few years ago, and thanks to a dear friend who sent me some alpha cutouts (you know who you are, dear!), I got to work.

These are Ethan’s ultrasound pictures…

…and this page is for Hannah’s.  She only had 2 printed out because the rest were stored in a CD when I had my ultrasound done in the US.  I might choose a few to print out and place in this album later.

In this album, I am also storing little tiny keepsakes like the birth record from the hospital and the hospital tag that was used for Ethan when he was a newborn.  It’s amazing to see how much he has grown!

I kept Hannah’s birth record from the hospital too, and hers came with her baby footprints on it too!  That was just too cute to resist!

…and finally…here are some items that not everyone keeps, I’m sure. 🙂

Oh, don’t worry…I’ve washed them clean and dried them nicely and had them stored away properly.  I had to pee on the stick three times when I was pregnant with Hannah because the two lines were just too blurry to be sure…hence the three sticks I diligently kept. 🙂

I’ve yet to design the cover for my Little Miracles’ Keepsakes album, but I’m sure it will come to me soon. Do you like it, and do you have a similar keepsake album for your little ones?

Posted in Close to Heart & Home, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting & Motherhood | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

I’ve Found The Secret to Baby-Smooth Skin….BUT……

Posted on October 2, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress

If you don’t already know, I’m a sucker for homemade stuff.  Even better if it only involves items that don’t cost an arm and a leg, and definitely extra points if it actually works!

My recent experiment making my own insect and bug repellent worked wonders, and I am glad to report that not only does it keep bugs away, it smells great, and I’m still using my first batch!  Is that cost-effective or what? 🙂

So my curiosity was once again heightened when while I was researching the Oil Cleansing Method, I stumbled on this simple recipe for homemade face moisturizer.  The creator claimed it will give you skin akin to baby’s bottom!  That certainly caught my attention.

So when my ingredients arrived from iHerb.com not too long ago, I started “brewing my potion”…or something to that effect.

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Posted in Close to Heart & Home, The Fairer Sex, Thoughts & Scribblings | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment