Christmas-y bakes

here's another lazy post.

piccies!!

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the annual Cranberry+Dark Choc Chip Cookies i bake before Christmas.

-before being "snow-capped" (icing-sugared)-

-after-

-packed a container for the Hubs worktrip-

Chrysanthemum+Goji Berry Agar-agar

-well, this isn't a "bakes" though-

-my attempt for us to have something "healthy" in between all the chocolate-y stuff-

super sinful Cranberry+Dark Choc Brownie 

-lousy shot of the tray of Brownie before it was icing-sugared-

-end product-

wish i baked more this Christmas.

this entire year even!

2012 must be the year i've baked/ cooked the least (in the last 5-6 years at least).

let's see if i pick it up again next year :p

the last 28-days in peektures

here goes

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new pink front button-on pjs from mum.

'cos, with the swollen and sore arms, we found out i couldn't even raise my arms to get into a tee! 

I pretty much lived in these pjs for the first 2 weeks.

ditto the pink furry slippers i got from the hospital.

so very comfy.

praying. 

lots.

and leaving a "light" on for hubby's safe return home every night.

a new read to get me through the first few days home (and confined to bed).

mum's hawaiian pizza - with extra ham+pineapples+cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese :)

quite simply one of the best "medicine" ever!

meds.

the real ones :(

nasty little things.

ice-cream cravings!

here's a new pint of Haagen-Dazs to soothe away the pain.

yums!

 more reading!

i love ditzy, chick-reads :p

plenty of admiring of my growing belly.

hurhurhur.

this one here was taken mid week 24.

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it's back to work tomorrow.

*thinks of 28 days worth of emails to go thru'

......

God, give me strength!!!

i ish hungry.

woke up @ 6:11am (i checked. so i could text the sister in UK) craving cheese omelette the way only Yuan makes 'em for me.
so very hungry now.
i wish she were home :(

So our 2nd ROM-niversary came and went quietly by last month-end.
Hubs was still away for work.
I was hospitalized, too sick and in too much pain to feel sad (then) about the non-celebrations.
Sigh.
Ah well, i guess we all just have to go with the flow of things in our unpredictable lives, yes?
It's just a date anyways.
On a more positive note, these's were taken earlier last month when hubs and i were off to a friend's wedding dinner.

Amazing how i can still "fit" into the ROM dress after 2 years :)
I certainly didn't plan on the design of the dress being able to stretch so nicely round the growing belly... but still! A new way of wearing this eh? Reckon i can still wear this to this month-end's weddings? Hee.

week 23 --- 24

we're coming round to week 24 now.

six months. SIX MONTHS!

this little ball here, God's gift to us, has been growing nicely for the past 23/24 weeks now.

amazing! 

Thank YOU, God! Creator of Life!

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since being home on hospi' leave, Mum has been trying hard to "fatten" me up.

i lost all the weight gained from the 1st 20-odd weeks when i fell sick.

and since we're already at the tail-end of the 2nd trimester, Mum has been worried sick thinking of how baby might not be getting enough nutrients.

in the beginning of it all, i was super nauseous most of the time, couldn't keep much down, had a pretty poor appetite.

all i wanted was soup.

it was all very well then i guess. 

most people do say we don't need additional nutrition, apart from what we would normally be getting if we ate sensibly, in the 1st trimester. Mum always did say, "不用那么早吃那么捕"

i figured my appetite would improve after the 1st 3 months too.

but now at week 24, i'm still not eating much more than before.

oh, i get hungry alright.

in fact, every morning at 5-ish, baby starts to kick and i get out of bed feeling extremely hungry.

some days, i have TWO breakfasts! at 5 maybe 6am, then again at around 9 - 10am.

but as the day progresses, i feel less desire to eat :(

come evenings, i sit at the dinner table, looking at all the good stuff Mum has prepared, but i take no more than say a spoonful of rice, some veg and soup (and on Mum's insistent, some meat) , and stop.

i'll feel extremely sick from eating, and just want to curl up in bed till morning.

sigh.

i really have no idea why i feel this way.

plenty of online resources say things get better by the 2nd trimester. the nausea, one's appetite, energy levels...... 

me?

ok, the nausea is pretty much under-control with meds and jabs.

energy levels... i have my good and bad days.

food-wise... gawd!!! while i have had the odd days when i'll crave good chicken rice (Five Star!), the odd carrot cakes, charkwayteows, double cheeseburgers with extra pickles... mostly i want to stick with soups, veg and fruits. that's all i ever truly want. even thumbing thru yummylicious cookbooks and mags don't make things any better. 

oh dear appetite of mine, please please please come back soon. the HK trip is coming up soon! i want to be able to enjoy all the good stuff HK has to offer!!! 

abrupt end here cos Mum wants me to go eat Birds' Nest now.

at least i can still eat Birds' Nest :)

healing

...and so, after that little episode at Mt. Alvernia, i am given 28 days hospitalization leave from work.

those in the know, will know my BP shot sky high to over 210 overnight. i was feverish... my arms and hands swell... there was such unimaginable pain in my bones... my body was weak... i was shaking like a leaf......

i was driven direct from the gynae's to Mt. Alvernia on Dr. Tracey's orders. thank God for the wonderful team at The Tow Yung Clinic.

thinking back now, i vaguely remember being driven by Dr. Yeong and Nurse Lilian to the Hospital. Dad had to go home for mum. Hubs was outstation.

i know i was admitted immediately (thanks to arrangements made by the Clinic) and pushed into Critical Care Unit (CCU) before i passed out.

woke up strapped to bed in CCU room #4 , hooked up to some mean-looking machines that were helping to monitor my BP, heart, and our precious baby.

the following 48hrs were mostly a blurred mix of pain, meds, visits by Dr. Tracey (thank God for her!), Dr. Tan KS the cardiologist and Dr. Pan the neurologist, blood tests, pain, med, nurses coming by to check on me, Sisters coming by to pray for (and with) me, the parents coming by to visit, porridge, apples, trying to pee into a bedpan, more blood tests, more pain, more meds......

throughout the entire time, the nurses came by every other hour to check on baby. as i struggled through the pain, my biggest BIGGEST (heart)ache was thinking of how i was depriving baby of right nutrients needed (cause i was on so much meds and taking in only porridge). thank God throughout it all, baby's heart beat was strong and i kept feeling baby moving inside me.

was finally allowed to go home after my BP came down (with increased meds dosage). 

hundreds (it feels like it!!) of followup checkups scheduled with the three doctors.

2 weeks on, the pain and swelling in the left arm and hand is gone. the right though, remains slightly swollen and sore. and weak. Dr. Pan reckons this may require long-term monitoring. blood test to continue. the right hand continues to shake, especially if i exert even the slightest bit of strength (like trying to squeeze toothpaste from the tube!!!).

daily monitoring of BP and blood sugar levels continue from home.

the bruises on my arms from all those blood tests are finally fading. where they inserted that huge-ass plastic apparatus for the drip? the wound is healing.

i'm healing. 

Thank God.

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*update: 

trying to pee with a bedpan must be the hardest thing ever! it took me three tries, over half a day, before i managed to do it that first day. dread what's to come after delivery. nurse says i'm not going to be able to leave the bed for the loo that first half-a-day after giving birth. help!!!

baby's a-okay. i'm gaining back the weight i lost. a re-scan scheduled this weekend. can't wait to see the little one.

Thank God for family and friends who have sent a constant stream of texts, calls, flowers, fruit baskets and love to us.