Violating the no-nos of 1st trimester

My gynae is quite a careful person. As per the 1st pregnancy, he would instruct the following no's:

No alcohol
No smoking
No sex
No raw food

Apart from the 1st 2, I violated all the rest. I also still continued with my coffee. I still love my sashimi and fresh oysters (ok, I ate them the day after I discovered #2. Clem was prohibitive. I argued that if I hadn't have the check. I would still eat anyway, right? He retorted that now I knew, I had the moral obligation to stay off. Ok, you win. Today's the last time. But can continue after 1st trimester.)

I was more worried about something else. Preggies are not supposed to go for hot spring or sauna. Unaware of my pregnancy, I went for hot baths during my hols in Taiwan, supposedly 3-4 weeks preg. I prayed hard that my baby was not harmed.

All said, I was adopting a more laissez-faire attitude even though I was already quite chin-chai during my 1st.

#2 Discovered

Missed my period so thought I'd better check with doc. Usually sychronised with a colleague's (EJ). If mine hadn't come and hers came, mine would be triggered by hers (amazing but true!). This time, nothing happened.

So I went to see the company doc at Capital Towers. I was having mixed feelings. Somewhat the same when I was seeing the doc when I suspected my 1st pregnancy. What if I wasn't? Then I would have felt let down, given my anticipation.

The doc this time was a different one. A lady. Oh my, she was super positive. Asked me if I had xxx and yyy symptoms. When I said yes, she exclaimed these were very good signs. This is not good, I thought. What if she raised false expectations. I asked these could be pre-menstrual signs too right? Yes, that's right. So I needed to do an urine test.

Came out positive. Well, we plan to have #2 in end 2007 so this was earlier than expected...

Smsed dar who called and expressed his excitement. Went back to office and handed my colleague my doc visit slip and she asked, "Are you pregger?" I just grinned and simply asked her to sign my slip.

That night, as Dar was on duty, I went to catch a show with Brenda and EJ. Oops! I left my wallet in the office! Brenda commented that I always become stupider during my pregnancy. Ya hor...

EJ commented that I seemed to take this announcement pretty well this time. For the 1st one, I was in shock the whole day and in denial for weeks.

5th Wedding Anniversary

This year, I hit the big "3". Looking back, I had spent almost half my life with Dar. We started dating since we were 17. Now, 13 years into our relationship, we are still very much in love. I thank God for this blessing. Many friends and colleagues have also commented that he's such a sweet hubby!

Our celebrations was simple this year. But to commemorate the 5th-year milestone, we wanted a more permanent gift. Dar suggested having a tattoo- permanent what, he said. My concern was, will I be able to explain to our kids when they grow, and to the kids in church, and to our pre-believing friends. Of course, it's up to our conviction but if there's a chance of it being a stumbling block, I'd rather not risk it.

So we got each other a ring. I got a better deal. His is silver, mine white gold with diamonds. Haha.

Our little son, the "ringbearer"

Finisher's T-shirt

I thought the marathon was something individualistic... Run your own race. But no... everyone I met was helping or encouraging another run his/ her own race too. It was so apt that the theme for this year's Stanchart Marathon was "Spirit on the Course". I was touched by many gestures I saw (and conversations heard) along the way...

* When we were still running on the Marina route, the first runners had turned around. All of us clapped and cheered rejoicing on their excellent performance.
* Someone saw another runner struggling at 6th km and encouraged him to keep steady to maintain his form.
* Church groups setting up spots at East Coast Park to provide refreshment relief to runners.
* Passer-bys clapping and cheering us, total strangers, on.
* A runner guiding another hearing-impaired (?) runner
* When we were making the return trip along Fort Rd (34km), a man was hobbling (probably from an injury) across the road, still at his 20th km. Someone ran over and passed him a heat rub, as the paramedics would have run out of stock by the time he reached East Coast Park.
* A 53-year-old man was asking how long more to run and was accompanied by a group of men in their 30s- 40s to make their journey back together.

When we were queueing up to collect our bags, we would just make small talk with others and share our stories.

There were no strangers. Everyone was encouraging one another and rejoicing together at the finish point.

I recalled comments about Singaporeans being self-centred and ungracious. I did not see this in the course. There is, really, somewhere in us that still wants to give...