Browsing Tag

durian

pregnancy

Do I really want to bore you with ultrasound pictures?

I’m crazy about babies. Probably more than the average human being. I’m the kind of passer-by that stops dead in my tracks and goes all googly-eyed at cute babies on the street. I once had a collection of Anne Geddes babies that would rotate daily on my wallpaper (till it suddenly dawned upon me that some of the pictures were a bit creepy).

Now, when I first saw Tru’s ultrasound photo, I honestly didn’t know how to react. There was this black mass staring back at me, and it looked nothing like all the cute babies I’ve been visualizing. He’s a stunning boy now, but back then, he was a cross between a giant-headed prawn and a martian. I was also secretly worried that he’ll come out all squishy and scary-looking. Before you tsk, tsk at me, I know moms are supposed to love their kids unconditionally, but deep down inside, we all hope our kids are drop-dead gorgeous.

Needless to say, I’m not a fan of collecting ultrasound pictures, even when they’re of my kids. Half the time, I can’t make out which is the head or bum. I was at the gynae yesterday taking a look at Kiki (until I find a better nickname) and my obgyn was patiently pointing out her various body parts. I had half a mind to tell him the scan looked nothing like an elbow or a head, but I I didn’t want to seem like a bad mother, so I did the usual mom thing and raved about how cute she was.

But that being said, I like my gynae visits. Looking at the ultrasound and listening to her heartbeat makes it seem like she’s really there. I know it’s bizarre, since she makes her presence felt by jabbing me in the kidney or bladder ever so often, but being able to see her makes it so much more real, which in turn makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Incidentally, despite my best efforts to keep her small, I’ve been informed that Kirsten is weighing in on the big side. (I hope she’s not fat when she grows up) I’ve got the remaining 8 weeks to starve her in order to have a serious shot at VBAC (or Vaginal Birth After Cesarean, for the less informed). Another C-section will kill all hopes of having 7 kids, so I’m going to have to squeeze her out of my pelvis one way or the other. Which also means I’ll be having severe durian withdrawal until after the delivery.

Anyway, to spread the love, here’s a sneak preview of how the little princess will look like. (Use a bit of imagination, will you?)

face

face

pregnancy

The Curse of the Cravings

One of the biggest banes of pregnancy is the accursed cravings. The backaches and incontinence, I can handle, but the cravings are my achilles’ heel. It’s insatiable. There’s a little voice in my head telling me what to eat all the time, and I just can’t get it to stop. One day it would be chicken wings, then curry, then ice cream (sometimes all at once). And if I so much as recalcitrated against the craving gods, I’d feel so sick it was worse than not eating at all.

To be fair, cravings are actually good. After you satisfy it, it’s totally orgasmic. Like when you locate an itch and scratch the living daylights out of it, or when an elusive sneeze finally surfaces, the satisfaction is intense.

If there were no repercussions, I would eat with wild abandon. Oh wait, I did, and that’s the story of how I gained 50 pounds.

This time around, I had a relatively craving-free first 20 weeks. I was even starting to give myself a little pat on the back for the immense self-control I’ve gained now that I’m a mother. (After you push a human being out of your crotch, you can stake claim to practically anything) But as I realized today, that’s absolute bollocks.

The cravings are back with a vengeance and today, it’s durians. Big, fleshy, aromatic, creamy durians. I could taste the bittersweet tang in my mouth and the smell, oh heavenly! I did make a vain attempt to list all the reasons why durians are bad, but there is no reasoning with the cravings.

So against my better judgment, I went out and decimated three whole durians. And it was exquisite.