Enjoying Renée: Week 1

Time has passed us by so quickly since the moment my water bag broke & we went into the hospital to deliver Renée on 27 September 2015, Sunday at 7:30am.

There has been so many new experiences & memories that have taken place and we wanted to remember as much of them as possible so we could share them with Renée when she grows up. So I have decided to blog about it and share snippets of each day here week by week. Kenneth had also blogged about his experience and you can read it here.

Day 3 - 29 Sep 2015, Tuesday

Today is our book out day, book out, book out!

Ken worked super hard (and all on his own) to pack everything as we await the discharge notice from our gynaecologist & baby's paedetrician. All I had to do was bathe, change up, eat my food, sit and relax, I've got a great husband!

Renée Diary: Week 1 - Hell Week

"So what is it like being a father?"

That's my number one most popular interview question. The most accurate scenario that I could relate to was during my officer training days (OCS) in army. The first few days of having a child is like living your life in constant outfield. While out in the field in army, you constantly have something to do, you have to dig and set up the command post, dig your trench, do guard duty, set up the signals, prepare the rations, plan for the mission, brief the men ... etc. When having a kid, it's almost the same, we are busy feeding, changing diapers and then if she poops immediately after, change it again, prepare salt and medical bath for the mum, prepare and bathe the kid, eat our own food (and many other infinite things to do) and by that time, the whole cycle starts again. With all these going on 24hrs a day, you lose track of days and time. The only milestone that guides our life is, "When's the next feeding time?" and we just work our life around that and try to get some snooze time where possible. Although our lives (and house) have been turned upside down, it brings us so much joy to see her innocent and beautiful face as she sleeps soundly knowing that her daddy and mummy will love and protect her every single moment she's alive.

It's just so soothing and therapeutic watching her sleep soundly, sometimes smiling in her sleep. I really wonder what do they think or dream about, land of milk and honey? Or her chasing squirrels around the garden? I also find it entertaining to see her burp after her food. She just looks so cute, like a bubble bouncing intermittently with her bobble head wobbling away. But when she starts fussing or crying, all hell breaks loose! That's also the queue to the dogs in my neighbourhood to start barking, which is quite hilarious too. She just needs to make her presence known in the neighbourhood that there's a new kid on the block.

Grow Baby Grow!

Having a child grow inside me is something I've dreamt about for a very long time and now that I'm finally pregnant, I'm VERY happy and trying my best to live with the accompanying symptoms of being with child. 

Here's how I felt about my symptoms

Here were some of the symptoms I had at some point during the first trimester of pregnancy:

Morning (ALL DAY!) sickness
Nausea
Constipation (HELPPPPP!!)
Bloatedness & Heartburn
Tender swollen breasts
Fatigue
Backaches
Frequent Urination
Worsened skin condition
Random emotional roller coaster rides

Make a guess!

#babylim processing in progress...

Baby Lim at Week 32! Can you see baby's face?

To see more of Baby Lim's Ultrasound scans, click here.

Tell us whether you think #babylim is a boy or a girl? Let us know in the poll below. The results will be released in October. ;)

Boy or Girl?

Baby Lim @ Week 19

Some of the most common questions we have had the last few months have been:

"When are you due?"

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Would you like to have a boy or a girl?"

"Did you have morning sickness?"

"How did you find out you were pregnant?"

"Was it a swiss-made baby?" (This came when we told them we got pregnant in early Jan, when we were on our Switzerland trip)

Happy birthday to me

"Dear, what would you like to do on your birthday?", my wife asked.

Our birthday celebrations are becoming more spontaneous like our traveling style. We tend to take it as it comes and go with the flow. It's not really what you're doing or where you're going, but who you're with that matters. You can be doing the most boring thing on earth, yet having the most awesome time with the one you love.

Kranji War Memorial

"How about visiting the Kranji War Memorial?", I replied after some thought.

How we found out I was pregnant

When we shared the news that Ken & I are expecting, friends & family members were curious to know how we found out I was pregnant. So we thought we could write this down to share our experience here.

Here's a very short background prior to us discovering I was pregnant:
In Oct 2014, I had missed my period and like all couples who are actively trying for a child, I tested to see if I was pregnant and the results came back negative. Over the next 2 months, I had still not had my period & all pregnancy tests came back negative. So we saw a fertility specialist and got some medication (Duphaston) mid-Jan to induce my mensus so we could proceed to take some pills for the ovulation.

I was told that upon taking Duphaston, my period should come sometime after 2-3 weeks, so we monitored and waited. Meanwhile, I started experiencing cramps on the 3rd and 4th week after taking the medication as well as light spotting.  With the cramp getting worsening, I got worried and decided to call up the gynaecologist & asked if that was a normal reaction to the medication and was told that it should be something else that is causing the cramps. The nurse told me to wait a few more days to see if my period came.

Being a pregnant dad

When we first discovered the pregnancy through the home test kit, we were obviously super excited but still a little skeptical considering the accuracy of the test as well as Steph's condition (she will blog more about that). So we decided to visit our gynaecologist to get a confirmation about the pregnancy.

At the clinic, there were good news and bad news. The good news was, "Steph's pregnant!". The bad news was the nightmare for every father, "She's not allowed to do any housework."

Godly, Healthy, Happy & Beautiful Baby

Pregnancy Week 15

15 weeks into the pregnancy, I am starting to get my appetite back and have been able to eat more, with the occasional vomiting bout after certain meals. That is definitely a step up from the morning (all day) sickness I had previously!

Being a first time mum (& dad for Ken), we have a lot to learn & read up on to understand what we are & will be going through during the rest of the pregnancy. Thankfully we've had quite a lot of support & friends who are open to share their experience with us.

Kenneth practising on our cute niece, Ashley.

Our Miracle Rice

I've been sick with nausea and cramps the last week and when I took a pregnancy test exactly 1 week ago, I found out we were pregnant! Well, because we didn't want to get our hopes up only to be disappointed, we decided to be really sure - So 4 positive pregnancy tests later, we went to see our gynaecologist, Dr. Fong Yang today.

I know, this is a little over the top but we had to confirm, double, triple & quadruple confirm!