Baby Bump

My baby bump is finally showing.

I am getting seats on the train... Thanks to kind hearted folks. On and off, people do pretend to be asleep. Either that or I am quite good at concealing the bump.

Anyway, some friends already noticed on photos.

I do miss my XS figure and all those tiny, pretty clothes I used to wear... my activities like dancing, running, diving and hot yoga... and the ability to eat a lot of food (my appetite shrunk and I can't eat certain food at all)... and, I do miss looking slim and thin on photos... But oh well, this is parts and parcel of being pregnant. I have already proudly embraced this privilege to put on weight. It IS my entitlement.

So, yes, I do proudly try to push out my tummy more on the train for a seat. I shamelessly tell restaurant folks I am preggy and need my food "now". Haha.

Ok. I sound like I am abusing my pregnancy. But hey! Might as well make the fullest use of this moment, right? *batting eyelids*

Oh yes. I am happier to show off my tummy and look fat.

Here are a couple of photos I realised my bumps are really obvious.

Kick Kick Kick

From those faint bubble bursts to hard kicks, I am finally recognising them as my mini's kicks.

This morning, he gave me a hard nudge to wake up for work. And kicked harder when I decided to laze around in bed longer. That feeling was quite awesome and amazing. Like, how is it possible that something so tiny could have such a strong nudge? How is it possible that something so tiny is growing inside me?

Anyway, yes... Few posts ago, I said that there are life changing events and I wasn't ready to share. Now I am. I am having a baby. And it's a boy. An active one... Like his parents.

We were initially suprised and a little unprepared but now, we have both adapted well and looking forward to his arrival. Baby has also moulded into this father-to-be figure very well. I am so proud of him.

I imagine all the things I could do with my boy - diving, climb mountains (daddy said he has retired from this), running and all the amazing "rough it out" sports.

We are like proud parents-to-be now. Our lifestyles are changing for him to be a part of our lives. Counting down... (although, I am afraid of the delivery...). :)

What I learnt from Mum's incident...

If there is anything I learnt from my mum's incident, I learnt the importance of insurance.

1. Hospitalisation & Surgery bills can be really hefty. Good to have.
2. An insurance that covers the possibility of loss of ability to work and long-term medical treatments.

I used to want more money so I started with endowment plans. If I could turn back time, I would go straight for an insurance that can cover ill health.

Imagine all you ever wanted is to have a lot of money in your bank. But after saving up hundreds of thousands, for some reason, you become ill health. Then you have to be hospitalised, go through surgery and after that, get a lower paid job, or worse, cannot work. Your income comes to a standstill, yet you have to continue paying to survive.

I think even a mountain of gold will be wiped out in no time. And this is very true after speaking to other patients.

So, I urge those people who are currently young and healthy to think carefully about the long-term future. We will one day grow old and die. Given the kind of lifestyle we lead now - rich food & drink, sedentary lifestyle, stressful work life, late nights and exposure to pollutants, radiation and harmful chemicals in the air, we never know when we would be attacked.

It is always best to prevent. It is also very good to encourage family members to do something for themselves.

Watch yourself, get yourself properly covered and have a lifestyle that loves your body and health. Think of your future generation by being responsible now.

My bestie is a Financial Advisor and Insurance Agent. I have entrusted her to take care of these. So, I know I can rest my mind. I am thankful for an angel like her.

I am also thankful my hubs took responsibility and get himself covered.

Turn of Events

The last few weeks had been an emotional roller coaster ride for me.

One moment, we were happily preparing for my brother's wedding in December... And I was celebrating the joy of the marriages of Kelvin and Steph and Ling and Bird... Celebrating knowing our baby is a boy... Anticipating our Taiwan trip... the next moment, I almost lost my mother to the devil of death.

How is it possible that life's turn of events could happen within such short moments of joy and sadness? But it was. And life is very fragile.

I think we should never take life for granted and we should always love ourselves. My mum's refusal to face her health problems was the reason she reached the extent of almost losing her life.

When the doctor told us that there was a 50% chance of survival from her surgery, the whole family was in tears. We braced for good news throughout the whole period when the surgery was going on. I always thought I would only experienced that in the movies or drama serial. But, we were in real life, prancing up and down the corridor outside the operating theatre, rushing to whichever doctor who came out to find out about her situation or progress of surgery.

It was the worst wait in my life, ever. Every time I closed my eyes and opened them, it was only 2 minutes that had past. When we finally saw the doctor who told us the operation was successful, we were so relieved.

Naturally, the days that followed were not easy. It was a lot of attention on her to encourage her and help her get well. Mummy has always been more on the timid and pessimistic side. So, being by her during the first critical week was significant.

Now that we are in the second week, it is becoming more eminent to keep her spirits and emotions up. She is expected to stay in for another month or so, and go through one more operation. So, in order for her to sustain the stamina to stay positive, we have to keep encouraging her and keep her happy.

It is not easy. And it pains us to see her suffer - all those needles, tubes, drips, blood withdrawal, medicines, nausea... But we have to stay strong. In fact, we have to be stronger than ever so that she can inherit those positive vibes from us and stay strong herself.

I pray and keep faith that she will recover sooner. That she will surprise the doctors and get well faster than they expected. Of course, help her with baby steps without pressurising her.

For all the prayers dear friends and family you have given her and my family, big thanks...

Launch: The Classics, 8pm

Finally! I am back in action. Been so busy that I had to leave most of the work to poor C, who was also very busy. She was busy with work, flying around, and chasing after idol. ;p

We are launching a range of classics this time after the casual range the last launch. The clothes have been handpicked and C personally selected the items when she was overseas. Thanks to all the hard work she put in while I was recovering from some changes in my life.

So, here are some sneak previews. Join us tonight at http://www.lamodashoppe.blogpsot.com/.

This is a really sweet dress. 

A personal favourite! I love how the back opens up slightly with a cape.

Absolutely love this Chanel inspired rendition.

Slightly different from the last one we had.

Love this shot - max!

I think W looks really lovely this in Smarty Dress. Great for work!

Comes in black, which I own.

C creatively puts together previews for all launches.

Always surprises me pleasantly.

Finally... Another Post

Oops... It's been a while - many months to be exact since I last posted. Well... Let's just say that there has been a lot of changes in my life! I'll share more when the time is right.

I picked up baking and had successfully baked Chicago Cheese Cake. I also made Apple Strudel, which was quite a failure. The puff pastry was completely flat!

Anyway, sharing something very meaningful here.

Our Lord Protects!

How Time Flies

Wow! I must say, time really flies!

Firstly, I am grateful that I am settling into my new job really well. Thank God for really nice people around me. And thank God for blessing me and showing me favour. I don't think in my human capacity would I be able to be doing well in my second month! :)

Anyway, I just celebrated my birthday about a week ago. It was such a bash.

My birthday started with my brother throwing me a birthday celebration at Timbre - good food, good times and good alcohol. Then, my lovely friends at Friends of Children decided to surprise me at our meeting. It was so sweet of them. I shall add these photos soon.

The eve of my birthday was such an exciting one. My colleagues and I went to beerfest. But my beloved girls turned up at beerfest with a cake and a generous present. I was so shocked that it took me moments to realise who they were. After that, we were drinking ourselves silly. It was certainly fun-filled. As always, with them around... It's always fun.

The next day, sweet colleagues celebrated my birthday in the office and EG, Jeff and Jun gave me sweet presents - sweet surprise.

The finale came when I met Baby at Ricciotti and he told me after much suspense, witnessed by brother Ray and Dearie Suz at 1.30pm that he was taking me away - diving on White Manta! How awesome!!!

So, we went home and packed - with most of the things already prepared by him. We then headed to our 3D2N all wreck dive.

Ok, it wasn't really all wreck since the weather was really quite a wreck at Seven Skies Wreck. To begin with, our boat was rocking port-starboard constantly, with plates and cups sliding all around the tables and us, holding on to the sides. After that, the dive guides went down to try to tie ropes for us. But, the ropes snapped twice. After two failed attempts and about 1.5hr wait later, we decided to ditch the dive and moved on to more shelter dive sites - Pulau Darma and Pinnacle. We did three dives here in very calm water (under) including an evening dive. The highlights? VERY VERY VERY beautiful corals - soft, hard, fan... It's like a "stroll in a garden". Lovely!

We set off to Igara Wreck and reached there happy to know we were able to dive the wreck. The only thing was, the under current was pretty strong. It was - especially during our descent via the rope. It was such a tiring descent that I was panting really hard and completely conscious of my air usage. By the time we hit 30mins, baby was signalling to me that he was low on air at 50psi. But I didn't understand him at all. After three attempts, he decided to show me his gauge and insisted on ascension.

So, we did after some miscommunication underwater. And, we missed our safety stop as he was too buoyant. Nevertheless, we did our next dive - thank God we were all right. And the next Igara dive was so much better. It was calmer and we managed to see a lot. The wreck was huge! We swam through cracks, saw huge trevallies and etc. It was amazing.

Overall, I would say that the dive was good though challenging. I would love to dive Igara again! This time, with my own camera.

Some shots for viewing.