25 weeks 2 days

If I am not mistaken, today the pregnancy is 25 weeks 2 days old (almost nearing the end of second trimester). Time sure flies! I had wanted to start this blog even earlier, but was always too lazy to do one up. Hopefully, I will be able to update at least once a week.

I guess we can call this baby a honeymoon baby; we found out we were pregnant even before we got our wedding photos and videos back! We had never considered "waiting" because I have heard of stories of couples who wanted to wait a couple of years while enjoying their alone time, and ended up having difficult time to conceive. So we were more like "when it comes, it comes".

SR and I are having a boy by the way, which came quite as a surprise, to me at least. We are surrounded by people who are expecting baby girls, thought my skin did not deteriorate much, plus the gynae did mention that he could not see any pointing thing down at the bottom. So I have been thinking of a girl's name. But after the 20 weeks check, we were told that we are going to have a boy! Until now, we are still deciding on the name. This proves to be a lot tougher than I thought it would be.

Physical changes so far:
1. Weight Gain
As of my last check-up, I have gained a grand total of 8 kgs. That is a lot considering my BMI; I was not skinny to start with, and I read up that I should gain only 8 - 10 kgs, based on my BMI. This was quite worrying to me because I was afraid that I would get Gestational Diabetes, but the scan showed that the baby was at a healthy weight of 400 grams, so all the remaining 7.6 kgs came to the mother, me. I felt quite upset about it, I guess I was happily eating because many people said I didn't look pregnant and all, plus I didn't realize that the weight is slowly and steadily going up because I only weigh myself at the clinic. I really have to control my diet, but it's very hard sometimes, especially because I LOVE fried food!

2. Skin/ Complexion
I did have breakout sometimes, but it was not as bad as before the wedding. But I have been having chest acne, which I never had before so that was quite frustrating since I do have round neck tops. So whenever I wear these tops out, I will get super self-conscious. My pits are darker too and my areolas are also bigger and darker too; I hope this is just temporary! . I start to grow tiny hair on my stomach too. If you see me in real life, you will know that I am practically hairless, except where hair should grow at. This was actually a symptom for a baby boy but I didn't think much of it.

3. Bump
Of course I have a bump now, but some people may still mistake it as a fat stomach than a pregnant one. I guess that's partially why I don't really take MRT unless I know for sure I will get a seat. But my clothes are getting tighter at the stomach and even my super comfy tai-chi pants from Uniqlo cannot fit anymore.

I guess those are the major physical changes I notice so far. The pregnancy has been pretty smooth so far, if I may say so myself. I didn't have morning sickness in my first trimester, no cravings whatsoever. But my lower back has been giving me issues. Turns out that it is sciatic pain; I was told how to "cure" this during my yoga practices, but the stretches proved to be quite unmanageable with the pain. But I will keep on trying! I also need to keep reminding myself to do the Kegel exercises; heard this is crucial for active birth and for the recovery process. I signed up for pre-natal massages too, which I intend to use only when the pain gets increasingly unbearable. For now, I can still cope with it, and will try to walk more to reduce the pain.

The baby is also attending pre-natal education by BabyPlus. I heard many benefits of it, and decided to give it a try. Google it and you will see many positive testimonials for it. It is quite expensive (I had to buy from Indonesia to get cheaper price), but I hope it will work. Unfortunately I started using BabyPlus quite late (only in week 24), therefore the effect may not be as optimal I guess, but still better than nothing. Seems like the ideal time to start using BabyPlus is when you are in week 18 of your pregnancy.

I guess that's it for now, will update again soon! :)