The alien trying to break out

Know how I always say it feels like an alien is trying to break out from my belly?

Well, here's what I'm talking about...

Xander baby's little bum is on my right in these videos,

and his long legs are attempting to stretch out on my left,

which is what you see when my belly gets pulled both ways.
The 3rd video has the biggest movements ;)

Most of the times it hurts,

but I deal with them cos it tells me he is well in there :)

And I've learned that he likes to have his bum patted lightly.

So when he sticks his bum out and starts going crazy,

I pat his bum and he calms right down again :)

I love it when baby does it though... it's so cute and so darn sweet... their own little father and son moment :)

We've received all our baby stuff last Friday,

so we're all set.

Woo-hoo!!!

But Xander's nursery is still in a bit of a mess,

so I need to get round to setting things up properly.

Should be fun ;)

Saturday,

we met Shuh Ying and Vernon up for dinner at this Asian food buffet restaurant.

It's massive with huge selections of food.

Everything from sashimi, seafood, dim sum, laksa, chicken rice, satay, etc etc etc.

BUT.

Baby and I had to rush home and each release massive "nuclear bombs" after.

Not fun.

Lesson learned: wanna eat buffet, go to a reputable place like Langham Hotel.

Bleah.

Sunday,

we had a full-day Birth and Parenting workshop.

As usual, we were the first ones there even though we were there right on time, at 9.45am.

WTH.

But it's ok, cos we got to pick our seats and stuff ;)

It wasn't super informative because there was too much to cover in the short few hours we had,

but it's like a good refresher for all the stuff I've been reading up on in preparation for the big day.

It mainly benefited baby, cos there was stuff he didn't know about before.

The main reason why I was looking forward to the workshop,

was because it included a tour of the birthing suites and postnatal rooms.

And the tour put me at ease because now I know what to expect and I really like the newly renovated rooms and stuff :)

Next Tuesday, I get to go back on my own for a Breastfeeding and New Mother's workshop...

only a 1.5 hour affair, but hopefully that'll be useful for me :)

After that, the next time we go to the hospital,

we'll be going as 2 and returning as 3.

Wow.

Exciting :)

At the workshop on Sunday,

there were 8 couples in total, including us.

5 of us knew the gender of our baby, the other 3 were waiting for the surprise at delivery.

Well, guess what?

All 5 of us who know, are having little baby boys!

The other 3 are probably having boys too (the midwife in charge joked)!

And everyone I know who are having or are supposed to be having their babies in the next few months are all having boys.

Haha!

Coincidence or what?

The midwife who conducted the workshop told all of us that we should be expecting our little ones anytime from now onwards,

and to be prepared with hospital bags and stuff.

She warned us not to be complacent and wait till our EDDs,

cos babies come when they come.

And from now on, doctors won't try and stop labour if it starts on it's own.

Scary stuff.

And for us, we're considered full-term in just 2 weeks,

so it's time to get ready.

Weee~!!!

It's funny,

cos I don't feel nervous about the labour and birth at all.

I know it'll hurt,

I know it'll be tough,

I know it'll be the most difficult thing I'll probably have to do,

but I'm at peace with that.

Because I know it's just the means to the much-awaited end.

And probably also cos I know I have all the support and encouragement I'll need from baby.

That's good enough for me :)

I can't wait to meet our little man,

but at the same time,

I'm starting to get a little bit sad about the impending end of the pregnancy.

It has been a relatively smooth pregnancy,

and I've loved every moment of feeling the kid move and kick and hiccup and stuff in my belly.

Hard to imagine that soon, I'll be missing this feeling.

Consolation is, we won't be stopping at one,

so in time to come, I'll get to experience this all over again, hopefully :)

We had to watch a video on Sunday,

of the whole process of labour...

how labour starts,

what contractions do to our uterus and cervix and everything else,

how the baby moves down the birth canal,

etc etc etc.

All in graphic real-life and 3D video images ;)

I was in awe when watching all of that.

In awe of how amazing our bodies are,

and in awe of how nature has designed our bodies and our babies to make the process work the way it does.

But baby was just shocked :p

Haha!

He was more like "OMG, I didn't know that's what happens!"

So after the video and when we were breaking for lunch,

he said to me "ok you get to decide when you want baby number 2 ok? whenever you think you're ready and whenever you want. I'll be ready whenever you are"

I had to laugh.

Haha!

He said it so seriously...

like he suddenly realised what me and my body will have to suffer through to give birth to his baby,

so I get to call the shots on when I wanna go through it again :p

Baby so cute ;)

I think what made it worse was when the midwife started talking about perineum tears and episiotomies and stuff.

I just hope he won't faint during the delivery...

:p

At the beginning of the session,

the midwife took out a green shopping bag,

and started filling it up with blocks of weights representing the weight we are carrying now.

A 3kg (considered small) baby,

1 litre of amniotic fluid,

a 1kg placenta,

a 1kg uterus,

and a few other stuff to account for the increased fluid retention and blood supply in our bodies at this stage of pregnancy.

Then she passed it round to all the dads in the room,

making them carry it.

And they were all pretty amazed at how freaking heavy the bag was.

Midwife said "guys, now you know why she's complaining about backaches and being tired and exhausted. Imagine carrying that weight around 24/7"

Baby just looked at me and rubbed my belly with that "I'm sorry baby" look.

Heh!

I told him that we should probably conduct one of this exercises with everyone who takes the public transport and all employers and bosses of pregnant women.

Especially the ones who don't give up their seats and the ones who don't understand why their pregnant employees need to take more frequent breaks and stuff.

:D

Ok I need to go get started on my to-do list for the day.

Ciao!