Tokyo's Pregnancy Badge hanging on a bag. I like how it's so unassuming.

As I mentioned in my Week 18 Update post, I have a little baby bump now! Though vaguely visible under selected clothing, it makes me look more fat than pregnant. And no, no one is giving up any seats on the MRT to this preggie yet.

Speaking of public transport seats, any woman who have ever been pregnant will find it ironic. The period of time when a pregnant woman needs the MRT or bus seat the most is during her 1st trimester. We have all these nice human beings who are willing to give up their seats to those who need it (my faith in humanity is high); they just don't know you're dying from the 1st trimester symptoms. And by the time you have a nice rounded baby bump in your 2nd trimester and the nice human beings are giving up their seats to you, you no longer need it as much as a few weeks ago; although it's still nice to be able to rest on the train.

But nice human beings aside, we also have the judgemental nutcases who periodically upload videos of people they judge as being physically fit and thus undeserving of public transport seats onto youtube and Stomp. (How dare the NSman sit on the MRT?! How dare that rotund man not give up his seat to a pregnant woman! Obese men should be exercising not sitting down!) 

And the reasons why these videos go viral almost instantly is because there is a whole demographic of judgemental crazies on the internet whose sole reason for their existence is to engage in cyber witch hunt and to name and shame perceived baddies.

So thanks to these militant nutcases, I didn't even dare to sit on the empty priority seats because I didn't think the best way to announce my pregnancy was by public explanation on social media on why I am starring in a viral youtube video. And this was when I desperately needed to rest from the 1st trimester cramps; dizziness; nausea, breathlessness, acid reflux; gastritis; and all that jazz.

It is times like these that I wished Singapore would adopt the maternity badges or 'Baby on board' badge like in Japan and UK.

In said countries, after you get pregnant, you can apply for a maternity badge to wear in public. This badge is not to pressurize other commuters to give up their seats to you but if nice human beings see it, they will know you're in need of a seat. Most importantly, you can sit in the priority seat without getting all paranoid on "voyeurs" filming you.

So come on Singapore! You called on us to breed! Make us some maternity badges!

And if MCYS decides to implement the maternity badges, please take a page from Japan's design. The maternity badges in Japan are so cute that I wanted to do our babymoon in Japan just to collect the badge! Unfortunately, I couldn't decipher if they give it to pregnant tourists too, and what exactly is the procedure to procure one. There was a period of awareness campaign when they were giving it out at their metro stations in Tokyo, but I believe it's over.

If anyone knows how to get these Japanese maternity badges, please please share with me!

I love this design!! THIS is the one I wanna fly to Japan to collect!!

London's Baby On Board badge. The design is so typically English; Boring.

Maternity badges from other Japanese cities

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.