This whole banning gay marriage thing really REALLY angers me. In many controversial issues (Iraq, abortion, torture, death sentences, etc etc etc), even if I don’t agree with the other point of view, I can at least see where they are coming from (that’s what makes a controversial issue, well, controversial). But the views of people opposing gay marriage is one thing that I really CANNOT for the life of me understand AT ALL. I keep listening to the other point of view to seek some kind of understanding as to why anyone would want to remove rights of other consenting adults to marry when it does not affect them. But I really cannot see why. I mean, the way some of these people preach against gay marriage like it’s a personal agenda, you’d think that a big dick will get immediately shoved up their ass the moment gay marriage is allowed. Well, pro-prop 8 friends, you will not get anything shoved up your ass if gay marriage is allowed. In fact, I’m pretty such NOTHING will happen to you if gay marriage is allowed.

So why do they even bother spending all that time and money campaigning against gay marriage?? I really really don’t get it. The argument about “oh our poor future children will have to grow up in a world where teachers will teach children that same-sex marriage is the same as male-female marriage“…erm. SO WHAT?? They ARE the same! 2 people loving each other (and likely 2 people squabbling too!)! SAME! Even if you bring out the whole biological issue of having children, which yes, does require a dick and a va-jay-jay normally. Well, I have news: there are many married couples who choose not to have children, who want to but can’t have children so they use medical technology, who adopt, and yes, who get divorced after having children. Hogwash! Are they worried that their kids might “turn gay” if gay marriage is allowed in this country? Erm….another news flash: they’d be gay or not gay regardless.

What is “traditional” anymore, anyway? It used to be “traditional” for women to stay at home and pop out 10 kids. It used to be “traditional” that interracial marriages were not allowed. If you have a religious reason against being gay (btw, the Bible says a lot of crazy stuff, like not eating shellfish and stuff), fine, then join a church that will not sanction gay marriages. But keep your hate to your church. How could secular marriages be put under the same umbrella? I’m not religious (hell no), but my marriage is as valid as any other Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, etc marriage.

It’s amazing that this is still an issue in America, the land of the free, equality for all, yadda yadda yadda.

This is a great PSA against H8.

Depeche Mode – The Sinner In Me (Villalobos Mix)

Your pregnancy: 27 weeks
How your baby’s growing:
This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She’s sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby’s brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don’t bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

Your pregnancy: 28 weeks
How your baby’s growing:
By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She’s also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

How your life’s changing:
You’re in the home stretch! The third and final trimester starts this week. If you’re like most women, you’ll gain about 11 pounds this trimester.

I am officially waddling.

I now see why they call it the 2nd trimester honeymoon. Almost exactly at the start of my 3rd trimester, I started feeling the fatigue again. Just flipping on another side of the bed requires more effort than I could ever imagine. Walking becomes waddling. And bending down to pick something up from the floor leaves me panting. 2-3 more months of growing to go! WOT!?!?!

The ravenous appetite I had been having throughout the 2nd trimester abated the moment I reached my 3rd for some reason. Could be because the stomach is being squished by that baby; I haven’t had much of an appetite lately. At my 4th month, I was the same weight I was when I first went in at 6 weeks preggers since I lost all that weight puking. In the 5th and 6th month doctor’s appointment, I was up month-on-month 8 pounds and 7 pounds, respectively (whoah Momma!). But at my 7th month appointment, I gained just 2 pounds. So thankfully this weight gain thing has alleviated somewhat. It’s hard enough getting around with the weight I have, my poor feet can’t do another 50 pounds!

We had a mini-scare a week or so ago when I went back to check if my somewhat low placenta had risen. It did. But the nurse felt that there was rather low amniotic fluid around the baby. They sent me up to the “Triage” at the Labor & Delivery unit and put me on an IV drip to put fluids in me. Apparently I was dehydrated. Which was really surprising because I felt like I do drink enough water, but apparently not enough. So I was placed in a hospital gown, on the hospital bed, with an IV drip (the works!), and lay there for a couple of hours while they put a gallon and a half of liquids in me. I hated the whole experience. I had never lain on a hospital bed in my life and I now know why people hate hospitals. I felt vulnerable and somewhat confused as to what I was doing there, albeit I have to say the nurses and stuff at my hospital (St. Luke’s Roosevelt) were nothing short of wonderful. It was a good “trial run” I guess for the actual thing. That room was the waiting room where women start off in labor and wait to see if they are in active labor or not. Still, it was cold, I was naked except for that darn hospital gown that shows my butt to the world, and I had a needle sticking in me. Ugh.

But in short, all turned out well. The fluid levels went up, which showed I guess that I wasn’t leaking fluids or anything, and I was just told to chug chug chug water. I went back 3 days later and everything looked stable. So chug chug chug water I am these days. I down at least 3-4 liters a day now, which turns me into a crazy peeing lady, but hey! Anything for the baby, right? I’m a little baffled at how something as simple as more drinking water (it’s not like I’m in a desert at Burning Man or something!) could help prevent something really serious. My own OBGYN (the nurse looking at that initial sonogram was in another facility) was kinda baffled too. But was happy my fluids looked ok when she took a look the following week. She told me that I needed to rest as much as I can, to lay down and take naps during the day (ha! who can afford that luxury if one is working??), be off my feet, etc. I’m not even sure if that initial nurse just didn’t see the sonogram correctly. But I’m really thankful for the medical technology we have access to right here that simple preventative things can be detected and done.

I will henceforth go see my doctor once every 2 weeks. Doctor’s appointments are pretty dull these days, after that initial excitement of going to see the doctor and sonograms and all that. But dull is good; it means all’s well. The appointments pretty much just require me to pee in a cup, get weighed and my blood pressure checked, and listen to the heartbeat.

I am feeling fortunate thus far though. No major discomforts beyond the usual. No stretch marks (fingers still crossed!). No veiny legs. No bad splotchy skin.

And in the last week or so, after several weeks of being really still, Baby Chansidine started kicking again, with a greater force than ever before. The craziest moment was a couple of nights ago when I placed the lullaby toy that we play nightly on top of my belly and she suddenly JABBED me on my side. I almost jumped out of bed in shock. It’s the most bizarre feeling. And really ticklish! I kinda laid back down in bed slowly hoping she won’t shock me like that again. I have bad memories of my brother using The Tickle to torture me…you know, the sudden Tickle Attack that come out of nowhere? Yeah, well, now this thing is in my belly and I never know when it’d happen again! AHHH!!!!

I haven’t felt really present with the belly in the last month or so cos it’s been really crazy busy at work (I’m happy to have a job!) and I just feel busy with a bunch of stuff in general. I feel busier than I ever did when I was studying for the CFA for some reason. There seems to be STUFF that needs to be done all the time. Maybe in part cos it takes me much longer to do something or get somewhere with all this extra weight. My goal is to try to calm the brain down somewhat in the last trimester. My mom is coming during her June school holidays next week! YAY!!!! And yet, I’m kinda stressing out about keeping the house as clean as possible for her visit as well. With 4 cats in the house, it’s an on-going and losing battle (but THANK YOU ROOMBA!). There’s a bunch of baby stuff that has been given to me that hasn’t been put away yet. The crib’s not up. etc etc etc. I keep vowing to do it all over this weekend, but I end up either working at home or sleeping cos I’m so tired. Blah blah blah. But nothing, aside from my job, seems to get done. Where is that nesting instinct I’m supposed to get????

In the meantime, a picture update. Holy Belly Mackerel!

Week 27 belly

Bye bye toes!

We attended Patrick’s cousin’s wedding recently. I sure do love attending weddings! Aside from the obvious (looking at happy couples marrying makes me cry), I love Chinese weddings for the food because I’d take a 9-10 course Chinese dinner over chicken & potatoes any day (hello? no comparison!). But man, American weddings and their cheesy wedding songs and dancing are SO MUCH FUN!

Especially when you have a crazy brother-in-law. This is how Pat is known as the quiet one amongst his siblings (Brendan’s the one in white pants btw; I think the guy in red shirt is a cousin of the bride and he was just as awesome. He led the conga line, ’nuff said!):

And of course, my 2-year old niece could not let her father bask in the limelight:

HOW CUTE IS THAT LITTLE THING????

I just love the look of pure joy in her face when Pat made her “fly” over the table:

Can’t wait to dress my baby up in all sorts of ridiculousness:

*sigh* What a travesty. Kris Allen was right when he blurted “Are you freakin’ kidding me? Adam deserves this. I’m sorry.”

How much did I LOVE his platform boots while performing with KISS? I saw them and thought “I bet those are his Burning Man boots!”. True enough, he confirms later that those boots were his. I first saw them here.

And HELLOOO??…that Queen performance. I’ve been dying to hear him sing a Queen song, because he has the lung capacity that is reminiscent of the one and only Freddie Mercury. And how he took the stage!

Oh, Adam! You were once too flaming for me, but now, I can’t get enough of your divaliciousness, your rock-wails, your Star-Trek shoulder pads, and your glitter eyeliner.

I know he doesn’t play for our team, but Glambert looked SOOOO HOT in Mad World tonight! But of course I find anything remotely vampire-like sexy.

It wasn’t his most pitch perfect performance, but I loved loved loved his song. Change Is Gonna Come is an amazing and unexpected song choice for him and he nailed it in his own way.

To be fair, Kris Allen did wonderfully in Ain’t No Sunshine, but that’s about it. What’s Going On was really weak and forgettable. He seems like a nice guy and I’m sure he’d have a good career in a Jack-Johnson kinda way, but he never really made me pay any attention or desire to watch his performaces repeatedly the way I have with Adam Lambert (and David Cook last year).

I’m not even gonna comment on the “coronation song”, because it sucks as with all coronoation songs. But Adam definitely did a less bad job than Kris did, IMO…the song really killed it for Kris. He was straining to sing that song.

Glambert For The Win!

Your pregnancy: 26 weeks

How your baby’s growing:
The network of nerves in your baby’s ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner’s as you chat with each other. He’s inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he’s born and takes that first gulp of air. And he’s continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

How your life’s changing:
Are you rushing around trying to get to childbirth classes and prepare your baby’s room while still taking care of all your other daily tasks? Make sure that you also continue to eat well and get plenty of rest. Around this time, your blood pressure may be increasing slightly, although it’s probably still lower than it was before you got pregnant. (Typically, blood pressure falls toward the end of the first trimester, and it tends to reach a low at about 22 to 24 weeks.)

HOLY MOLY! I’M HAVING A BABY!!!

WTF is an English hothouse cucumber?

Is it just me or are the weeks just spinning right by?

I just put down a deposit for a childbirth education class at Realbirth, as recommended to me by a friend who recently gave birth. My class will commence on 13 Jul 09 for 5 weeks until 10 Aug…8 days before my due date. Cutting it reeeeal close, but those are the only dates that would work cos Papa Patty is heading back to Singapore for a vacation (without me…weeeh! I ain’t flying all that way with a ginormous belly) for 2 weeks in early July. I had a sudden epiphany this morning when I woke up that I should take a childbirth class. Maybe not an epiphany, more like a sudden mini-freak out because I have NO CLUE WHAT TO EXPECT. I have never changed a diaper in my life, nor be alone with a kid less than 15 year old in my adult life ever, for god’s sake. My mom telling me “eh, labor will be painful hor. Must be prepared” also helped freak me out a little. A no-shit, of course labor is painful, statement, but it was a kind reminder that THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!!!

We went camping this weekend at North-South Lake Campground in the Catskills. It was phenomenal. The Chansidines haven’t had a solo vacation in a while and it was awesome-ly special. True to Chansidine form, we had a bunch of Chansidines happen. Our air mattress had a small leak the first night (probably because I tried to pump it up as hard as possible (that’s what she said) and popped it), which led to us sinking to the cold, cold ground every hour and having to get up and pump it again (that’s what she said)…through the night. We bought a new mattress the next day. The weather wasn’t kind, heavy rain the first night, thunderstorms the 2nd night and high winds through the night. And I FREAKED OUT about the thunderstorm (major phobia of mine. I saw 2 people get struck in the tennis court while I was playing volleyball in the indoor court in secondary school…and the rest is history) and ended up me spilling Pat’s beer all over myself and my pillow (long story). And yet, it was a phenomenal time. We basically spent time huddling in the tent, reading and just being together, just enjoying us as the 2 of us. A babymoon. I am grateful everyday that after more than 6 years of spending almost every day together, I still can’t get enough of my man. I am so thankful that during this pregnant process I am able to share every emotion and movement, and have every discomfort looked after by a partner. I feel for women who have to go through this process alone. And just the thought of making a family together makes Momma Kelly wanna cry (helloooo emotional crazy pregnant lady!).

I am getting so big it’s not even funny. My boobs already look like milk factories (NOT attractive. seriously. I miss my landing strip chest). I am existing on Patrick’s T-shirts at home right now. They used to SWIM on me. Now they fit just right. Sigh.

The new thing that’s happened in the last week (something new always happens) is that Baby Chansidine managed to literally tickle me one night. Her movements are progressing from light taps, to strokes. TOTALLY BIZARRE. A couple of nights ago, I felt as if someone ran a roller paintbrush down my side and it totally tickled. TOTALLY BIZARRE. Yet TOTALLY COOL at the same time. Oh gosh. I love this baby so much already.

Your pregnancy: 25 weeks

How your baby’s growing
Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn’t much more than an average rutabaga, but she’s beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she’ll start to look more and more like a newborn. She’s also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you’d now be able to discern its color and texture.

How your life’s changing
Your baby’s not the only one with more hair — your locks may look more full and lustrous than ever. It’s not that you’re growing more hair, but thanks to hormonal changes, the hair that you’d normally shed is sticking around longer than usual. Enjoy the fullness while you can — the extra hair will fall out after you give birth.

Baby Chansidine has been way less active than she used to be. So much so that I called my doctor yesterday just to check if it’s normal. Ugh. I hate being that mom who calls her doctor for any slight issue. But that’s what the advise is, and so I called. I was told to eat breakfast with sugar and sit and concentrate and to go into the office if there was no movement within an hour. But sure enough, the Honey Bunches o’ Oats made my baby tap 5 times in 10 minutes. Crisis averted. How silly. She’s still much less active than she was a couple of weeks ago where she was moving pretty much on cue (morning, after lunch and after dinner) for a couple of weeks. But I don’t really have to be concerned about baby movements till the 3rd trimester which is coming up in *gasp* 3 weeks!

I felt like I went through yet another growth spurt in the belly this week. There were a couple of days of that stretching full feeling in the belly. This morning, I bent down to tie my shoelaces and felt my head squeezed and blood rushed to my head like never before. WHEW!

I am constantly surprised whenever I catch myself in the mirror. We used to have a full-length mirror in our bedroom attached to our closet door at the old apartment. When we moved, we were supposed to buy a new full-length mirror. Chansidines being Chansidines, it’s been 3 months and we still haven’t gotten our asses down to the store to buy one. And when I moved, I broke my hand mirror (Last time I broke a mirror, it was the day I met Patrick. So I tend to see that as a sign of good luck), now surviving on the 2 inch compact mirror on my make-up case. In short, I pretty much haven’t seen myself naked beyond the 2-inch by 2-inch compact mirror in a while. I took a quick peek at the belly today in my office bathroom mirror and was all, WHOAH! KELLY! Haven’t seen you in a while…you sure do look pregnant!

Otherwise, I’m still feeling fine and dandy. I’m already wondering what it felt like to be a non-pregnant lady. Oh, the lack of weight! I don’t know if you ever done this – when I would be studying for something, oh say, like the CFA, I’d be say, 16 weeks into my study schedule. And for fun, I’d flip back to say, week 2 and go, man, I’m SO glad I’m not THERE anymore! I kinda feel like that about being pregnant. I’m SO glad I am already 25 weeks pregnant, and not just 8 weeks, when I was puking my guts out.

Oh another thing I was considering was signing up for childbirth classes. The people who have went told me they have been useful to them. But I’m still up in the air about it. Because I am lazy. God, I’m lazy. I have been the laziest I have ever been with this pregnancy. I still have no inclination of setting up the crib, packing up the baby clothes already being given to me, and neither do I feel like reading any baby books. At the same time, I feel like I am busier than ever because of work and a bunch of other stuff I need to get sorted out soon (like the green card/name change stuff). The thought of going to a 3-hr weekly class for 5 weeks and hee-hee-hoo-hooing seems like such an awfully big commitment. I know I’d probably benefit from it…and so will Pat, but there is still this chip on my shoulder about making too big a deal of having a baby. Evolution has made me the way I am so that the baby’s gonna pop out one way or other…right?

Maybe I’ll just watch some online videos or something.

Your pregnancy: 24 weeks

How your baby’s growing:
Your baby’s growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he’s almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he’ll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing “branches” of the respiratory “tree” as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

How your life’s changing:
In the past few weeks, the top of your uterus has risen above your belly button and is now about the size of a soccer ball.

A soccer ball in my belly…it feels exactly as it sounds.

Despite that, I have been feeling increasingly comfortable, which is a surprise to me. A week ago, and I didn’t mention this, I was feeling a constant pressure in my entire crotch area. You know if you strain for #2? Yah, it felt like that all the time without me straining. Feeling engorged could be the way to describe it. It was weird, and as Teddi said, makes you wanna run around humping a tree all the time. But somehow it makes sense since it felt like the weight of the belly is pressing down on that area all the time. So I was kinda worried it’d just get worse since the belly is gonna get bigger. But for some reason, at Week 24, it felt like the belly lifted upwards or something and the pressure eased completely, even as the belly got bigger. Totally bizarre, but what a relief!

Had my 6-month check-up on Wednesday (gasp! That’s half a year of being preggers! I’m still in disbelief!). All is well. Doctor was surprised with my weight gain. I’m up 15 pounds. Which is totally in line with how much I should be gaining in 6-months (total healthy weight gain is supposed to be 25-30 pounds), but since I put all of that on pretty much in the last 2 months, not recommended. When she saw my chart, she went “really? that much? where does it go cos you don’t look it!”. Not sure if she was trying to make me feel better or not, cos the scales don’t lie and kellykelly is a whale after all. Then she said “well, maybe you should eat less rice or something”. If she wasn’t an Indian lady, I’d have thought it a racist comment. heh! So yes, kellykelly is somewhat trying to cut back on food consumption…but food. is. soooo. goood. Seriously. I’ve never eaten so much ever! I feel like a freakin’ bottomless pit these days. All that indigestion I used to feel….pretty much gone (did I mention yet I feel increasingly comfortable?). The wonderful digestion machine is in full gear and no longer an illusion. Food. Is. Gooood.

Baby Chansidine has been pretty consistent with her nudges and bumps these days, although she’s been pretty chill the last couple of days. She tends to knock when Momma is reeeally enjoying her food, which is at almost every single meal. It’s the highlight of my day to feel her knock around the belly. It is the sweetest feeling in the world.

Other than that, the concept of a child still seems foreign, distant, unreal. I had seriously expected myself to be the type of pregnant woman who’d go overboard with the overstudying, over-researching, over-preparing. But nope. The baby books given to me are still tucked away in the closet. It’s almost like I’m savoring the last few months of my life not being a parent. I’m more distracted with work work work, green card and name change applications, and with my new iMac and an iPod Touch (yep, I finally did the switch and it’s been sooooo much fun! I’ll write a separate review for that) – I feel far busier switching computers, having to move stuff over, archive things properly, etc, than I did moving house – than to care about nursery decor. I am supposed to do a bunch of stuff soon, like sign up for a birth class, interview pediatricians, do a birth plan, research nanny/day care options, research about vaccinations,…all that stuff that hippie-yuppie internet-surfing NYC parents are supposed to do. And then I’m all, whatever lah! Shoot me up with the epidural, vaccinate-up the kid, and I’ll just go to the nearest and most convenient pediatrician! I know there is value to researching what’s best for the baby and all, but I’m starting to feel that parents these days obsess way too much about every little thing. People need to just CHILL, yo. That takes away so much of the enjoyment, IMO. Pregnancy, after 1st-trimester HELL, is actually so much fun! The best part about it is that you can rest and relax and be lazy (wait. I’m not lazy. I’m just pregnant) and eat with a manically efficient digestion, because it is good for the baby when Momma’s well rested and relaxed and well-fed.