The Braxton Hicks contractions

Felt my first contraction at 4am this morning (week 23). I feel like I'm breezing through this pregnancy!!! It felt like just yesterday that I first felt the baby move and then found out it was a girl and now the contractions! I'm enjoying every minute of this pregnancy, except the days when the hormones really kick in to overdrive and all I want to do is cry for no reason… But this blog is not about my stupid hormones, it's about the contractions.

Now before you freak out (those of you who are not familiar with pregnancy), Braxton Hicks contractions are normal. What it is, is sporadic uterine contractions. In simple English, it feels like a tightening in the stomach and lower abdomen region. They are said to aid the body in its preparation for birth. These contractions actually begin around 6 weeks but are not noticeable till after midway through pregnancy. Some women may not even feel them. However, they are completely normal. It will continue to occur but will remain infrequent, irregular, and painless up until the last weeks of pregnancy. They get their name from an English doctor who first described them in 1872, John Braxton Hicks.

I'm so glad everything is right on track!

The Growth (Part 1)

Today marks the first day of Week 23! More than half way there and the time has simply disappeared. I'm certainly in no hurry for the next half to be over but I can't help imagining what it will be like to hold my baby girl for the first time… knowing me, I'll be so emotional and my eyes will be full of tears that I won't be able to see at all. Speaking of growing, this blog post, part 1 of 3, will cover the last 4 weeks of the second trimester (month 6) and the growth of the baby in comparison to fruits and vegetables, based on my BabyBump iPhone app!!

[From week 21 on, measurements are taken from head to toe.]


Week 23
Large Mango
11.5 inches
.499 kg

Week 24
Corn
12.5 inches
.567 kg

Week 25
Rutabaga
13.5 inches
.680 kg

Week 26
Hothouse Cucumber
14 inches
.794 kg

The Name

The most common question we've been asked the last few weeks is "What gender is the baby?" And until just recently we had no clue. Now that we know, the question on everyone's mind is "What's her name?"

That has certainly been our mind for a very long time, even before starting a family, we agreed that the name was a very important part of who she will become. Names have meanings and we believe this will be a major part of her character growing up. Hence, any name we consider, goes through a 'background check.'

We had chosen and narrowed down both the boy names and girl names before finding out the gender. Now, our focus is on the girl. However, we are still working on a boy name in the event, at delivery, I happened to have a boy :) I guess you can say, it is in our nature to always have a back up plan.

As for the girl names we have gone through many and only 2 remain on our list.
1. Madison - meaning "son of the mighty warrior" Its origin is Old English and is commonly use for boys and girls.
2. Aurora - meaning "Dawn". Latin in origin and used by 19th-century poets. Also used in some versions of the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty" with Princess Aurora.

[Based on www.thinkbabynames.com]

We are also working on middle names that have important meanings and compliment the first name. We have found that the middle name is harder to decide on than the first. But we will get there, after all we have a deadline we can't delay!

The Food

At this stage the baby is gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid everyday. This is for both nutrition as well as to practice swallowing and digesting. But more importantly, the taste buds are actually working. Studies show that babies respond best to tastes they've already encountered via the amniotic fluid. This means every time I bite into my sandwich, I'm preparing my baby for food it will favor in the future.

This got us thinking. What kind of food do we want our child to eat. Certainly not junk food, but what types?

The Top 10 Most Tasty Cuisines:
1. French
2. Italian
3. Chinese
4. Indian
5. Thai
6. Mexican
7. Japanese
8. Spanish
9. Greek
10. Lebanese

Based on this list we are focusing on 5 of these cuisines: Italian (representing western), Chinese, Indian, Mexican and Japanese. We are choosing these partly because they are my (Sarah) favorites (not in that order) but also because each one has distinctly different tastes from the other types. Each one uses different spices in various ways to bring out the best in the dish.

I'm really enjoying northern Indian food more these days and I need curry at least once a week. I'm also undertaking a study of my own to see if I can train the baby to like durian. Elijah is convinced the baby won't like it, partly because all the first born in his family do not eat durian and partly because I didn't feel very good on Friday after gorging myself with the best durian money can buy. Nevertheless, I'm determined to try. Anyone interested in taking me for durian?!?!?!

The Baby Gap Photos!

20 weeks

The Last Trimester

Apple used to have the slogan, "Think Different", I think our lives reflect, "Do Different." As you are aware, we do things different. We plan to deliver the baby in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, Sarah's hometown. And as it turns out, delivery will be in the exact same hospital that Sarah was born in. Of course, you are all invited to visit the baby in October in Madison. We will be traveling in November, either in the UK or South Africa and will be in Malaysia from the second half of December, back in time for Christmas and New Years.

So, why did we choose to have the baby born in America? We do not want to limit the possibility of our child having the opportunity to be the President of the United States and it is a constitutional requirement that to be President one must be born in the US. There is also the possibility that our child could be the Prime Minister of another country but as far as we know, most other countries don't have that requirement of birth place to qualify.

The doctor prefers that we travel before the last week of July, so, we are aiming to travel at the latest date possible, around July 25th. We will post frequent updates on this blog so that our family and friends from around the world can continue to be connected with us during this period. And despite the time zone difference, you will find us online almost everyday through skype and facebook.

The Gender!

It's a Girl!

Elijah and I are both extremely happy with the outcome and despite my own feeling that it would be a boy, i'm happy to be wrong in this matter.

Of all 4 grandparents, only 1 (grandpa bristol) guessed girl. The greatest reaction in the room after cutting the cake was shock! We had a total of 17 votes for boy and 13 votes for girl. Despite being pretty balanced, it seemed like the boy group was much more confident!

There are still some people who are skeptical and think the doctor made a mistake. For those people and my own curiosity, at my next appointment I will have him double confirm! But I'm sure nothing will change and my bliss can continue uninterrupted forever!

As the guests arrived, they were ushered over to our voting board, where ultrasound photos were posted for their reference should they need help guessing if it was a boy or girl. They then proceeded to place a  guess under boy or girl, took a blue or pink ribbon based on their guess, and filled out a name tag with a baby name suggestion. Below are the votes (from those at the party and those who did not attend) and some of the baby name suggestions that I can recall.

The votes were as follows (winning team first), followed by the suggested baby name:
Girl:
1. Caylie - Rainbow Low
2. Dylan
3. Dayson
4. Ratna
5. Kendra - Lucy Bow Low
6. Caleb
7. David Tan - Elizabeth Low
8. Annie
9. Joshua
10. Elijah
11. Grandpa Bristol
12. Joel
13. Victory - Kyria Charis

Boy:
1. Joey
2. Ebbie
3. Grandma Low - Alberto Low
4. Grandpa Low - David John Low
5. Debbie
6. Saundra - Aiden Low
7. Jared
8. Timothy Lim
9. Iris - Cyrus Low
10. Stephanie Tan
11. Yuki
12. Grandma Bristol - Josiah Jon Low
13. Anna
14. Sean
15. MJ
16. Sarah
17. Vivi

I want to thank the Grandparents for their support, even if Elijah did not produce a son first (because as we all know, men are responsible for determining gender!). A big thanks to Jared and Stephanie who took photos. Also, thanks to Yuki who contributed boy and girl bodysuits, dresses, booties, mitts, hats (the works) toward the decorations at the party! To Esther and Michelle, the cake was perfect in every way possible and so delicious! Ebbie, thank you for moderating the online part of things and staying up late to watch the chaos unfold. Thanks to Caylie and my mom who helped decorate and keep me calm, and my mom-in-law, for helping to arrange the food. To the sponsors, your contributions were immensely appreciated. And finally to all the guests, both physically at the party and virtually in attendance, you made the party a success!

Photos will follow soon (as soon as my camera guy passes them over)!

The Baby G.A.P. Broadcast

We understand that not all our family and friends will be able to attend our Baby G.A.P. in person, so we are broadcasting the event live on Thursday at 6pm Malaysian time (GMT +8). If you would like to join the live event please RSVP to Sarah at kb9wne@gmail.com and you will receive an invitation email with instructions on how to log in to the system.

The cake cutting to reveal gender will begin at 6:30. You can log in earlier and have a chat with the other online guests.

Don't forget to cast your vote on the blog poll before the big reveal tomorrow night.

The 20 Week Scan & Pregnancy Highlights

Today was the 20-week scan. The doctor’s priority was determining gender so we can move ahead with our plans for the Baby G.A.P. After some time the doctor finished and told us he was 99% sure. That’s the best we can hope for. We passed the sealed envelope to the baker already and we are really excited for the dinner on Thursday.

20 weeks - 2 images, Left: Head, Right: Body (baby is too big to fit whole body into one picture)

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 20 weeks 

Size of baby: small cantaloupe 

Maternity Clothes: Things are getting a quite snug. Still too small for maternity clothes. Too big for normal clothes, although I do have some favorite comfy pants. I prefer to wear dresses. 

Gender: Will find out on Thursday night.

Name: Slowly but surely narrowing it down for boy and girl. Will work more on the names after we know gender. 

Movement: I’m beginning to recognize the kicks easier every day. Baby is most active in the evening and early morning or 30 mins after I’ve eaten. Elijah hasn't felt the kicks yet.

Heartbeat: Strong. Forgot to get a reading at this last appointment. 

What I miss: Bak Kut Teh and peanuts

Symptoms: Not many now. Occasional heartburn, backaches, and sometimes swollen ankles. 

Medications: Prenatal vitamins, Calcium and Omega 3   

Best Moment this week: Seeing the baby on an ultrasound today. 

Funny Moment this week: Baby kept crossing its legs while the doctor was trying to determine gender, not very cooperative.

20 week scan details:

Estimated Fetal Weight: 385grams

Head: 46.9mm (equivalent to 20wks 1day)

Abdominal Circumference: 157.9mm (equivalent to 20wks 6day)

Femur Length: 34.3mm (equivalent to 20wks 6day)

Translating these numbers: Basically the baby is right on schedule and development is normal.

The Baby G.A.P.

We know it has been a long while since our last update and we are sorry for that, but the wait has come to an end and the latest news is very exciting!

A lot of thought has gone into how we want to find out the gender of our baby. It has been a roller coaster of various ideas and craziness. We finally decided that it is important to share some of the bigger moments, like finding out gender, with family (especially the grandparents). The best way to do this is with a Baby Gender Announcement Party (G.A.P.)!

So here's the plan. Monday is my next appointment, where the doctor will determine the gender. He will proceed to secretly write it down on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope. The contents of which neither of us know. We will then pass this envelope to a baker who will create a cake based on the gender stated in the envelope. We have picked out the design, all the baker needs to do is color the inside of the cake blue or pink based on gender. We will then hold a family dinner where we will cut the cake and find out the gender together as a family.

As family is spread out around the world (US and Australia) we are hoping to be able to set up live streaming so the WHOLE family can take part and watch the cake cutting!

We also hope to have all of you, our friends, with us there. We will work hard to set up the live streaming so you can be a part of it too. More details will be announced via this blog and Facebook events, should we get it to work.

It has taken a lot of patience and self control to wait this long to find out gender. It would have been easy to go into the doctor's office at anytime and ask for the gender. Despite the effort to control our desire to know, we are confident it will be well worth the wait.

Stay tuned for the date and details.