Kicking Away

My little cutie pie has been kicking and kicking and kicking away in my tummy since this morning. I think he wakes up every two hours now just to stretch his legs and feel all over my insides. I was standing in the train this morning, daydreaming and almost forgetting that I'm pregnant when I suddenly got a small stab in my lower abdomen. It caught me by surprised and I jerked my head down in time to see his second punch pop through my dress. It was a very surreal moment. I almost wanted to ask the person next to me, "Did you see that?!"

I guess I'm starting to feel a queer sort of tenderness towards my baby. I don't know what that overpowering motherly love is supposed to feel like, but at the moment I'm more curious about what he is going to look like and what kind of personality he's going to end up with. I guess you could say that I'm very curious to meet him as a person.

Jerry is also starting to warm up a little. Before he was able to feel the baby move, I'd say that he wasn't as interested in its development. Men are such visual creatures. But ever since he's been able to feel his fluttering kicks, I can feel Jerry's tenderness grow alongside mine.

I'm almost reaching the end of my nineteenth week now and I already feel like time is flying by. Before we know it, the baby will be here and our lives will forever be changed. It's scary yet exciting at the same time to think about! In the meantime, I intend to enjoy what's left of my relative freedom :)

Pregnant & Reading

This has been the most exciting year so far! I got married, turned 25, and now I'm expecting. Talk about major life changes.

My first trimester was tiring. I felt sleepy and nauseous all throughout the day. They really should have just called it "all day sickness" instead of morning sickness. 

This is me at 17 weeks.

My belly really started showing sometime around 15 weeks actually. That was also about the time I stopped being able to wear even my largest pair of shorts. Luckily I had already ordered maternity shorts and pants from ASOS a month ago. They came in really handy when I needed them.

Some of the bodily changes that I've been experiencing recently is a little bit of weight gain in the other areas of my body. Though I think that's probably due more to my switch from a very active lifestyle to a somewhat sedentary one. I haven't been skating or playing DDR or running at all. My exercise during the day usually just consists of walking or jogging after a bus. I really miss skating though. I feel gross when I don't have a good sweat everyday.

I've also been more gassy than usual. Passing farts almost all the time now. The bad news is, they're mostly stinky ones :P (sorry everybody)

This is me last week, at 18 weeks. 

Last Wednesday was the first time I felt my little one moving for sure! At first I thought it was just gas, but the movements were too deliberate. I've been feeling him move frequently during the day now, especially after meals. Must be the noise from my digestive system that's waking him up.

Then today, I could actually feel him move from the outside when I put my hand on my belly. He gave it a good shove and it was weird/cool/wonderful all at the same time!

In preparation for what's to come, Ms Pang recommended that I read this book, Baby Wise. I'm halfway through it at the moment, but I find it to be extremely useful in giving concrete tips on how to schedule sleeping and feeding times. I also love that the writers of this book have Christian backgrounds (I bought this at SKS, a Christian bookstore in Singapore).

I've been hearing from many different mothers and mothers-to-be on what they think is best for newborns. I've also had my own experience with caring for babies to look back upon. All in all, I'm very happy with what I'm discovering in this book. I agree with its principles and it makes for a pleasant read altogether. And of course, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested :)

Another book that I'm reading is Sacred Marriage and this was recommended by Kim who is also reading it now with her husband. Because their relationship is such a good example to me, I thought, I'd better read what they're reading too! So since i was gonna pick up Baby Wise from SKS, I got this too.

The funny thing about Christian books is that, they ultimately all lead back to the same thing, or in this case, person.

With a title like Sacred Marriage, you'd probably expect the content to be quite different from books that are written for singles right? But what I've found is that whether you're talking about marriage, or struggling with addiction, or trying to build a church, or striving to be a holy single, the ultimate purpose of all of these experiences are still one and the same; that is, to become holy, or more like God.

Sacred Marriage purports that marriages can be like a refining fire, one that is intense and at times painful, but is necessary to mold us into a people set apart for Him.

I'm also halfway through this book right now and I'm sharing what I read with Jerry as I go along.

And that's all the updates I have for now.