16 Aug 06 - 25 weeks
Small niggles starting to get to me.
1) My MVP (mitral valve prolapse- where chambers of my heart don't close properly allowing leakage of deoxygenated blood backwards into the oxygenated chamber) is getting worse as the gynae predicted. I'm often breathless, particularly at night, when I'm lying down horizontal. Nothing can be done really so I just have to put up with it. Hafidz gives me slow back massages to relax me but it doesn't really help. Lying on my left makes breathing easier but baby hates it and will start kicking me vigorously asking me to move.
2) Pelvic pressure sometimes causing an unnoticeable limp in my walk because the baby's head is pressing on my sciatic nerve. When I stand up, there is a shooting pain in my pelvis and I have to move slowly to accommodate the pain. My nightly oil massages to push the baby's head upwards sometimes lessens the pain and friends have advised for me to go to a neonatal masseuse to ask her to 'push up' the womb.
Other than that, things are going great. The baby is kicking more vigorously and my baby book says that she is now red and wrinkled and is starting to lay fat under her skin. She responds to bright lights and when I sing, she stops kicking and listens to my voice. She also loves to curl up which means sometimes my belly would appear lopsided cos she's curled into a ball at one end of the womb- which is also very painful by the way.
The linea nigra (dark line between the belly button and the pelvis) has shown up and my baby book says this is the time when stretch marks start to appear (eeekkk!!!!) so I've fanatically rubbed my belly with all manner of lotions and oils to make it more elastic.
Still no cravings (thank god), but love all things sweet- chocolates, ice cream and the like. Gestational diabetes appears at this stage too, so I have to watch my diet. Eating a lot more too, always hungry- I don't think I'll be fasting this Ramadhan which is in 3 weeks time.
I've started on Anmum milk since now is the stage where EPA and DHA is needed to form the baby's brain.
Oh, and the 3D scan last week showed a chubby 900g bub with daddy's facial profile. Even my mom says so. At some point, I'll put up her 3D picture online and you can decide for yourself. Ok, here I am in the office... its 5pm and I'm positively starving!!! Off I go for a snack of fruits...ciao!