Chap 01: Preparing for Baby Shah

6 July 2018

When we got married, of course we wanted kids as soon as possible considering our ages. For me, I knew I wanted to conceive kids before 40 but hearing stories of friends and families who had difficulty conceiving scares me a little. We were worried that our age would affect us but alhamdulilah, in our second month of marriage, I was pregnant.

I was actually doing my final presentation in NIE and the class had to walk around the classroom to view everyone’s project plan but mid way, I was having the worst lower backache so I sat down for a while to rest. I was pretty immune to back pain since the slip disc incident last year so I did not think too much of it. However, one of my classmates insisted that I go buy a pregnancy test kit so I could check if I was pregnant. Of course I laughed it off.

I gave some thoughts to her words and decided to head to the pharmacy to purchase the kit. Anyway, no harm doing the test. That was exactly what I did once I reached home. So apparently if the kit shows a cross sign it means that I am positively pregnant and if its just a horizontal line, it means I am not. Surprisingly, it showed a cross. I was still a little sceptical and did not really want to celebrate until I am sure so I took a photo of the results and send it to the hubs.

He obviously came rushing home after that lol.

The kit did say that the test is most accurate when it is done in the morning so after a short discussion, hubs also suggested we do another test in the morning using a different pregnancy kit. (Yes, I bought 2 different pregnancy test kit lol)

In the morning, the results were the same!

We decided to confirm it with a gynae so we quickly booked for an appointment. Our very experienced gynae confirmed that our little one was already 6 weeks old. Without a doubt, we were ecstatic and finally were able to celebrate. However, we still wanted to keep it confidential so we only told our immediate family.

Generally I had a pretty easy pregnancy, I only vomited twice throughout the entire pregnancy, I had no morning sickness and was still full of energy. Apart from work, I was also going to NIE to and fro a few times a week and still had to finish a ton of assignments on top of work so I was really praying for good health throughout the pregnancy.

Alhamdulilah for everything that was eased. As the tummy grows bigger, I was getting more tired from work and the 2 hours journey to NIE was not helping. Throughout this whole time, my close colleagues were so helpful, ensured that I do not overexert myself etc.

Approaching the second trimester, we were getting more and more excited going for our monthly gynae appointment, simply because we get to see our little one through scan.

I was so busy with work and course that I hardly had any time to prepare for the baby. We finally sat down and decided to plan on getting ready for the baby. Seeing the rising cost of living in Singapore, I suggested we take advantage of my 3 days marriage leave and head to Bangkok to get all the baby necessities. We also checked when the baby fairs would be happening in Singapore and set time aside to survey and decide what we need to purchase.

Preparing for the baby was exciting and I always enjoy the time spent with the hubs.

The biggest headache was figuring out how to fit the baby cot and the baby wardrobe into our small room. Nevertheless, we managed to figure it out!

DIY wardrobe was cheap and reliable.

We were also blessed because so many friends and relatives gave us baby clothes of different sizes. Thank you. ❤

The cot! We did not purchase any toys seen here, it was gifted by friends and relatives. The cloud pillow was also gifted by my crazy bestie.

Apart from close friends and family, I had to inform my team mates at work too because they will be affected by my absence. I was very busy with assignments and my partner SK always had to tolerate my whinings. Lol. She also took care of me so well, always ensured I need not climb up too many stairs, carry heavy things etc. She also bought me tau huay all the time!

I could not have ask for a better partner at work. 🙂

Initially I was worried about my absence but after looking at how my partners work and their excellent work ethics, I had no worries. Thank you my partners!

It also helped that I was not the only one pregnant at work. There were 4 other ladies and 3 of them are experienced mums so they gave me a lot of tips and emotional support! I really appreciate it!

I am thankful for an easy pregnancy. By week 37, I was already feeling so tired and heavy because it felt like I was carrying a big basketball in my tummy.

The most difficult part of the pregnancy was actually travelling via public transport. I usually had to endure standing for the entire journey because no one in the bus or train would give up their seats to me. This continued even until my tummy was huge. It was very obvious that those sitting in the ‘reserved’ seats were usually young and abled. I was only offered a seat twice, once by a foreign talent and another by a middle age lady.

To think we call ourselves and advanced and educated society, it was disappointing.

The above photo was taken in the bus. The bus had no empty seats and those sitting in the ‘reserved’ seats were young. Don’t tell me that it is not obvious that I was in my 3rd trimester.

Throughout the entire pregnancy, I was also thankful to the hubs for accompanying me to gynae. I really appreciate him taking time off work to do this.

I always look forward to the day of gynae appointment because that would meant more time spent with the hubs….eating. 😀

On week 38, the gynae told us that I was already 4 cm dilated (yes I felt nothing except the urge to pee all the time lol) and asked if we wanted to deliver on that same day or the day before. We were shocked and did not expect it. I suggested we do it the day after so that we can mentally get ourselves ready. Our hospital bag was packed and we I just needed to manage any anxiety.

We had initially planned to go to town to run some errands but since the gynae said that I could go into labour any time, we decided to go somewhere near for a meal.

This is us on the last day of just the two of us. We were excited of course but as first time parents, we were also a little anxious on what is to come. We went for lunch and shop for last few items of our baby necessities list of items and then headed home to rest. My parents are not going through this the first time so they were pretty calm.

Looking forward to embracing our next chapter. All our duas came true and inshaAllah, we pray and hope for the best.