Assuming there are 4 weeks every single month of the year, I am now 4.5 months pregnant! 2 more weeks to that 20 week scan.

And I am also finally not feeling sick ALL THE TIME! That's a milestone, to me at least. Hello second trimester! That said, the following still throws me into a violent fit of nausea:

1) Smell of food being cooked; the oily kind
2) Smell of very oily cooked food (I'm spared from fried food though, for some reason)
3) Smell of extremely spicy food (The qualifier is that I have a relatively high tolerance for spicy food so I'm still able to enjoy mild spices in my food)
4) Bumpy rides (No, it's not carsick)
5) Tight clothing
6) Random fancy by my baby


The 1st one: Smell of food being cooked. Now this is really the WORST. My apartment is near-airtight with the air-conditioning on almost 24/7. But when I step out into my yard of out of my apartment, I will get attacked by the stench of the entire apartment block cooking at the same bloody time. I either hold my breath and make a run for the elevator, or I get reduced into a whimpering nauseous heap.

The 6th one: Random fancy by my baby. As if to prove my point, it just happened. I was happily typing this post when I suddenly get into a throwing up fit; no explainable reason whatsoever.

But other than that, I'm more or less a functional woman.

My baby bump is also finally bigger than my OHSS bloat. The extra big shorts I bought to accommodate my OHSS bloat is officially too tight as of this morning. I've put on about 2kg since before the IVF procedure. But although my bump is showing quite a bit now, I look more fat than pregnant. And no one is giving up any seats to me on the subway yet.

I've been taking baby bump pictures (almost) every week but I'm a little shy to publish them here.

I bought my first pair of maternity jeans! That's my first piece of maternity clothing; highly recommended by my new-mommy girlfriend. Will review it at a later date after I'm well acquainted with the jeans.

So looking very forward to a positive 20 week scan to assure myself that all in well in the womb down there!

Like what I said in my previous post, we've started to tell people I'm expecting. It's always nice to tell that to friends who have recently become parents themselves so their pregnancy experiences, recommendations, and advice are still fresh in their heads.

Most of the advice are more or less the same, but the most interesting recommendation I received was from a girlfriend who ordered me to buy this stretch marks prevention cream IMMEDIATELY.

I had been quite apprehensive about the prospect of stretch marks, but have since accepted that it was part of a mom's sacrifice. Until my girlfriend appears with this shining beam of hope that I may be spared from the scars of a snapped tummy. She happily says she started using the cream as soon as she knew she was pregnant, and never developed a single mark. Her son is now 1 year old.

So I bought said cream over the next few days.

The Mustela Stretch Marks Prevention Cream was made in France and cost me SGD49.50 a tube. The reviews online seem mostly positive, although some women still developed stretch marks ultimately even after religious use. A quick check on Mustela's website for details of their 'clinically tested' results showed that the tests were only carried out on 20+ women, with no information on the women's age range or race. (Yes, I believe different race's skin types do make a difference in results for cosmetic cream)

But who cares! I'm gonna try it out. So far, I've applied it for 5 days already. The on-again off-again itchiness on my growing belly has been off-again since I started applying. But it's only been 5 days so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.

The cream is runnier than I expected so a load tend to ooze out when you squeeze it too hard (actually I only applied a little pressure), so be careful there.

There is a slight fragrance from the cream that my newly pregnancy-induced Hyperosmia is not rejecting, so I guess that means it is more or less natural instead of chemical.

Well, I can only update whether the cream really works after my baby pops out and my tummy deflates, so let's hope for the best.


This is a non-paid product review. Want me to review your product? Contact me at  taru.contact at gmail.com.

So I was spared a full 2 weeks wait for the $800 test. I only found out it's called the Panorama Prenatal Screen when they emailed the report over.

The genetic consultant called hubby last Thursday (17/12) to deliver the news. The probability for Down Syndrome is now <1/10000 according to this test with 99% accuracy.

Oh gosh, we were so relieved! I wanted to jump and celebrate, except I can't really jump. The test also picked up the chromosome readings easily so we also now know the gender of my baby. But shhh, I'm not telling yet. Watching people guess based on their 'experiences' is so much fun.

We're probably the only ones I know that know the gender of the baby at less than 14 weeks. Hubby was disappointed at the gender though, and moped about it for a couple of days until I ordered him to snap out of it.

So now that we've cleared this milestone, I hope the little one is still fine in me. A hint of a baby bump has started to appear. I swear it's real this time! Although my belly still looks smaller than when I got OHSS. I always thought I looked 3 months pregnant during my OHSS ordeal, but it seems I had looked further along than I thought.

I will be 15 weeks along this Christmas. It's time to start announcing the good news. Here's a pic of baby in my belly at 13 weeks, 2 days; 7cm. Compare that to the 'abstract art' in my 2nd Antenatal dating scan. At least when I show this picture, no one is asking me "How does this work?" anymore.

So here we are, in the middle of yet another '2 week wait'. This time, my Schrodinger's Cat is in a lab somewhere in the hospital.

It. Just. Never. Ends.

Last Monday (7/12), we went for the Fetal Abnormality Screening. I had been nervous about the scan for a while but largely distracted by the morning sickness to fall over myself in worry.

The ultrasound scan was surreal. For the very first time, we saw the baby move. It moved! It was waving its arms in what looked like a salute, and it was turning around and flipping. And I swear I could see the silhouette of hubby's nose on the baby. I wonder if this means it's a boy!

We walked out of the scan room in a sense of wonder while waiting for the results. It measures about 5.6cm, but it was moving so excitedly!

But then the doctor presented the chilling results to us. There was a high risk that the baby may get Down Syndrome; more specifically, a 1 in 112 chance. This was 90% accurate

The next day, we opted for the other blood test that will be 99% accurate, and cost about $800. But the results can only be out in 2 weeks. 2 weeks of hell.

Yesterday, we went for the gynae checkup. The first official one after I 'graduated' from the fertility clinic. This time it was really hard to have to grimly watch the baby happily wriggling in the womb, dreaming of life; when its fate is so uncertain now. It has grown ever so slightly more, and is now measuring at 7cm.

I went through most of last week coping by being really busy and involved with work. It's not working this week at all. After a year of emotional trauma, after 3 episodes of OHSS madness, after suffering physical pain for 3 consecutive months; there is that possibility that I may have to interrupt this pregnancy. And after I have passed the torturous 1st trimester too!

We went for the 2nd dating scan on 16 Nov Monday, and I was so pleased that I have been promoted from the transvaginal probe to the 'over-the-belly' kind (what is this called?).

I was a little stunned as she placed the probe on my lower belly and immediately, the sac and the 'blob' inside it appeared on the screen. It has grown so much! From a little pulsating light in the dark of the ocean, I can now see a tiny humonoid shape (can you see the head shape in that picture!!); the pulsating heartbeat right in the middle of the chest.

A sense of relief washed over me. Yes, I had been paranoid. The internet overflowing with stories of failed pregnancies in every corner is really not a good place to live in.

And that was the good news. My little diamond is growing well at 26mm!

The bad news was... that the 2nd sac remained empty and silent; an abyss. I was really disappointed. Although I had been more paranoid for my 1st sac than hopeful for my 2nd, the disappointment I felt then in the room was huge. I had for weeks entertained the eager thought that I could settle 2 pregnancies in 1 go and leave my uterus alone once and for all. But now I may have to go through the ordeal all over again for a 2nd child. Having just recovered from OHSS, the thought is horrifying.

But that's another scenario for another day. Right now, I am just focussing on being grateful that sac no. 1 looks healthy. Hubby was grinning from ear to ear for the next 1/2 hour after the scan, although he probably didn't realise it.

3 weeks ago, the machine claimed I was 5.7 weeks pregnant. Exactly 3 weeks later, I am suddenly 9.4 weeks pregnant. Where did the 5 days go to? Dr Jerry Chan later ascertained the latter date is correct, and my full term will be on 17 June 2016 (That's my daddy's birthday! He's going to be so thrilled!)

Next appointment: Fetal Abnormality Scan on 7 Dec for risk of Down Syndrome. This is another huge milestone to cross.

Grow healthy and well, my dearest little diamond.

Meanwhile, I have clean forgotten what it is like to not feel sick all the time; have a normal appetite; have a brain that doesn't feel like mud half the time; nor to sleep soundly through an entire night...

I am so sick of wanting to throw up all the time. Why do they call this "Morning Sickness" when it happens throughout the day; randomly; and sometimes more acute in the evening? Ondansetron, the promised 'wonder pill' for morning sickness useless on its own. I need to take it with Prochlorperazine for any relief at all.

And there is this pain in my abdomen that feels like someone punched me in the guts and I badly want to throw up. I've been prescribed several gastric-related medication and all of them are useless.

Well, at least the OHSS seem to have waned about 2 weeks ago, lasting a grand total of around a month, more than 2 weeks longer than the promised 12 days by the doctor.

Let me just say that OHSS X Morning Sickness is not funny at all. The breathlessness, the pain, the exhaustion, the bloated tummy, the nausea that you no longer know whether is induced by OHSS or the pregnancy...

And my tummy is thankfully all deflated now after the OHSS liquid got pee-ed out. In fact, thanks (or no thanks!) to the loss of appetite and constant nausea, I lost 1-2kg since before the OHSS a month ago. During the height of my OHSS when I looked several months pregnant, I truthfully didn't think I'd see my flat tummy again until at least next year.

I am officially 8.5 weeks pregnant today and wondering how long before the baby bump appears. I hope the weight loss is not affecting the pregnancy in any way!

Apart from the nausea and loss of appetite, I seem to have gained a new superpower in the form of a heightened sense of smell (hyperosmia). I seem to be able to smell 'details' in various odours I have not experienced before. For example, I can suddenly only smell the chemicals in my favorite shower gel and hand soap which I used to find fragrant. The chemical smell in the soap assaults me relentlessly after every shower and hand wash, making my nausea worse.

I now know how my cat feels as she wrinkles her little nose and bolt every time I spray a scent in her direction.

And assorted food smells so pungent! My body have suddenly rejected my favorite Tonkotsu ramen, gagging me with the aroma that I once salivated to. Another one of my favorite foods: Sambal Stingray, now smells like rotten trash.

And my on-again off-again craving for McNuggets dipped in curry sauce? I now know how much chemicals the Curry Sauce contain. I mean, I could taste almost every non-peanut ingredient chemical in that unassuming brown sauce as I crunched into my McNuggets last week. I'm swearing off that sauce until I can't taste it again. Wait a minute, that means my super power extends to my heightened sense of taste as well...

Anyway, Monday is my next scan. Monday is the day I will know for sure if my second sac has lighted up, and whether my first sac is still doing well. I am so nervous!!

I almost choked with emotion when Dr Jerry Chan announced "We can see the sac".

Sac! "What's a sac?" I needed to confirm. He briefly explained to little bimbo me exactly what I thought it is.

That was last Friday. Dr Chan had got us to go down after I complained about the intense cramps that had suddenly appeared. So he wanted to do a quick check to ensure there was no miscarriage, and that was when we got our first look at the little gestational sac via the ultrasound.

At least 1 diamond made it...


And Monday 26/10 was THE dating and viability scan. I was glad I had gotten a quick preview on Friday so my nerves weren't too frayed.

This was the more precise scan done vaginally. The probe searched, and it was like searching for deep sky objects through the telescope at the night skies back in the '90s; manually, without the motorised pointer.

And when the gestational sac peeked into view, it was as satisfying as locating the nebula. There was 1, and there was another. There were 2 sacs! Twins! The lady doctor probed a little more and focused on the bigger sac. There was a pulse of light in the little sac. It was like a blinking light from the lighthouse in the dark of the ocean..

I am 100% pregnant with the gestational sac growing in the right place. I was so relieved. The 2nd sac was silent though. No lighthouse from that ocean.

Although a little disappointed, I was grateful that at least 1 made it. I finally cleared this stage!

Dr Chan seemed so pleased that it was a singleton pregnancy. He had strongly advised trying for twins right from the start. "You don't know what we have seen" was his dark warning a lifetime ago.

Hubby says this may be a blessing. There must be a reason why the doctors are so wary of multiple pregnancies. Deep down, I am still hoping that the light will appear in the 2nd sac during the next scan...



Meanwhile, the OHSS just simply refuses to leave me. I still look 3 months more pregnant than I really am. At times, it seems to be growing; other times, it seems to be subsiding. What is going on! And the pain in my torso oooohhhh.

The doctors are at their wits' end at my condition too. Since I seem to still be able to function, they're not overly concerned.