Turning thirty & entering my third trimester!

And so...I turned 30 recently! Decided to throw a mini party right at our home in Singapore that weekend! It was definitely a fun night with my loved ones and good friends. I wanted the party to be easy & chill so I decided to try out the private dining service from Luxe Catering!

And here’s the menu for the night! The food was great & the atmosphere was even better! The package include dressing the dining table, full dining wares, two uniformed chefs & two uniformed butlers too!

And I couldn’t deny myself from ordering the prettiest cupcakes by Febspantry again too!

I was one happy kid that evening for sure! 🤩

***

Moving on...I am officially in my third trimester! Baby girl is growing just fine and she has been really active in my belly!

Side view of our little girl, can you spot her little nose? Husband & I can’t wait to meet her in September! 

Third trimester has been great so far, but it’s really true that the growing bump is making moving around a lot harder! Also, I’m really starting to feel really nervous/ anxious...it’s our first child after all! As much as I would like to plan EVERYTHING to a T, it’s almost impossible when it comes to having a child. So yes, I’m constantly reminding myself that I’m going to make some mistakes but most importantly is to enjoy the process of being a Mom!

With ♥️,

Gina

Scoliosis and I (II)

Couple of years ago, I was introduced to the Support Group for Scoliosis in Singapore. I was happy to have found this group and had a great chat with the founder too! I was keen to join the group, it gave me an opportunity to share my experience as a Scoliosis patient who underwent surgery more than a decade ago (rods and screws are still implanted in me till date) and also make friends with other Scoliosis patients!

Years ago, I made the choice to undergo surgery to correct my curvature, I was a minor then but I remember clearly the discussion I had with my parents. Until now, I still see the beauty of correcting my curved spine surgically. However, I feel that many parents of young Scoliosis patients don't seem to agree that surgery is an option, it is often seen as a "last resort" and it has to be "avoided at all cost". I don't see why surgery has to be seen as if it is a taboo of some sort.

I am a Scoliosis patient who is proud of her surgery; I chose surgery to fix what needed to be fixed. However, I don't think it's appropriate for anyone including myself to instil for or against a certain treatment upon anyone. I may have reaped the benefits of the surgery but every Scoliosis patient is different and it's advisable to seek for a specialist's advice at the end of the day.

I believe this Support Group was formed for experiences to be shared; but to advocate against a certain form of treatment shouldn't be shared freely unless explicitly asked upon!

Gina

Happy Mother's Day!

Been a while guys! And before I rattle on, I would like to wish all Mommies/ Mommy figures out there...a Happy Mother's Day!

I too am celebrating my first Mother's Day this year, feels really odd to be receiving flowers/ gifts on this day...but I'll get used to it! 

Anyways I guess it's about time to write my thoughts on my first trimester which I've bade goodbye a while ago! My first trimester was...tough. I was six weeks pregnant when I found out, other than the most obvious of missing my menses, I had this weird taste in my mouth every evening a week prior to the discovery! I also had this super weird craving for Macdonald's nuggets one night at around 10.30pm which was extremely odd as I'm not so much of a fast food/ supper person!

Post pregnancy discovery was nothing but joy, husband and I decided to share the great news to our immediate family members! However, by Week 7...I was hit with the most dreaded MORNING SICKNESS which occurred around 5pm onwards E.V.E.R.Y.D.A.Y. 

I felt nauseous almost daily by evening time. I was neither keen to prepare meals (like I always do) nor had the appetite for dinner. And truth is, this nauseousness escalates on an empty stomach which I didn't know! Mornings were better but I often had headaches... It was quite a frightening experience to be honest since it is my first pregnancy after all! I felt really sick, I even wondered if I'm suffering from a bout of stomach flu then! Mommies around me told me to hang on and second trimester will be a breeze...but I swear...it felt like it was so long away! I was living day by day in fear!

Eventually, I found that having small meals and snacking along the day really helped me feel a little better! I started to venture out of home but car rides were awful! My motion sickness returned in FULL FORCE! I suffer from motion sickness since I was child but it got better in my teens and adulthood but during the first trimester...I couldn't even hold my lunch in after a 10 minutes car ride! I was tired, moody and I had no desire to do anything except to just lay around at home. I was extremely fearful of taking the plane as well, which disrupted several of our travel plans.

And then came the much anticipated SECOND TRIMESTER!

I won't lie! It is indeed a dream! Miraculously, the nauseousness went away, headaches were rare, appetite returned and my motion sickness was back to being manageable! I was constantly tired though, my energy levels are way lower than before and I am often out of breath if I talk or walk too much .

My supportive husband got us a live-in helper which really made the whole situation much better! I didn't have to worry about household chores and I started to cook again! I took my first flight (in 5 months omg) back to Singapore and it was all well! And to top it all up, at week 19, we felt the first movements of our baby girl in my belly! It was such an exciting moment for both of us!

To all first time mom-to-be out there who's battling with morning sickness, HANG IN THERE! All will be worth it when you see your little one doing well every visit to the gynae!

With ,
Gina

Our Baby Gender Reveal!

Recently, we received the results from the NiCE Prenatal Test that I did! We are happy to announce that our baby is free from any chromosomal defects or abnormalities! And as you can already tell from the title...yes this test could also tell the gender of our little one! 

Only a small amount of blood was required of me for this test, and it took 7 working days (from the day my blood was drawn at the lab) for the results to be out! I received the results on a morning and I forwarded right away to BFF (without peeking I swear)! Soon, I was on my way to the balloon store and dear BFF had to coordinate the balloon purchase via Whatsapp call since we are an ocean's apart .

I decided to bring my helper along and it turned out to be a good call cos the balloon was HUGE! I know it doesn't look THAT huge on the photos and video but yes this was her managing the balloon at the rear seat all the way home . I had to take a photo of her before moving off cos just look how tiny she is beside it, we were both super tickled and were laughing all the way home!

So the balloon containing either pink or blue confetti was sitting at home for hours...I was so excited when I heard W coming through the door after work! I have been wanting us to uncover the gender of our first child in a more erm 'interesting' way instead of just looking at the boring medical report! I've uploaded the video here for your viewing pleasure! Totally candid, not rehearsed one bit! Enjoy!

With ,

Gina

Scoliosis and I

I may have not shared this before in this space but I have Scoliosis! This medical condition of mine was discovered during a routine health check in primary school. Instead of having a straight spine like most people, my spine was "S" shaped!

After countless visits to the orthopaedic and X-rays, it was decided that I would have to go through treatments to correct my curved spine. As I was growing rapidly as a child, an uncorrected curved spine could possibly lead to a punctured lung. Imagine a healthy growing spine would grow vertically but mine essentially would grow sideways creating a big fat "S" shape!

It was initially discussed for me to possible start the treatment with a back brace. However, within a short span of time my curvatures got worst and we were told that a surgery was required to get my spine fixed. And so I went through a spinal fusion surgery.

I spent a week at the hospital (I was 5cm taller after the surgery by the way!) and was exempted from physical activities for two years. But that didn't keep me from being active. I tried everything when I got the go ahead to get physical! I ran, I high jumped, I tried roller blading, etc. I didn't feel I was different from my friends except that I got this really long scar (shoulder to waist) running down my back.

Honestly, the scar, the medical condition didn't affected me one bit. Why should I let this episode change who I was meant to be? Life has so much more for me to explore than to wallow in self-pity or negative thoughts. My condition didn't limit me in many ways except I was rejected by Singapore Airlines when I failed their medical test (due to scoliosis) during my application to be a cabin crew.

I won't deny that I was slightly disappointed but it was probably for the better! Being a cabin crew is physically demanding, I may not be the best candidate and I accepted that fact. I went on to work in the banking industry and I loved every part of it too!

It was during this time that I started developing soreness and lower back pain. I could conveniently blame it on "scoliosis" but to be honest...I hardly exercise then, I wore a lot of heels, I walked and sat a lot. Even a healthy person with no back problems would probably also develop some sort of backaches with a lifestyle like that!

I started practising yoga with a private teacher around two years ago and guess what? The occurrences of my usual lower back pain lessened. Even husband noticed the major improvement cause obviously I whine much lesser these days. 

I believe it's really important for anyone with scoliosis to pick out a suitable workout regime to maintain a healthy back. Even people with normal spines would experience some sort of backaches without proper care let alone us, the special ones! 

With ,
Gina

Almost a year later...

Wow, it has almost been a year since my last post here on blogger. I spent much of the year updating on Dayre but if you haven't heard the news...Dayre is exiting the blogging sphere for good? Anyhow, I was losing interest updating there anyways . I think a handful of Dayreans are moving to Wordpress since old Dayre posts can be exported over but nah I'm good. I'm not exactly the most sentimental person around so what's meant to be lost, shall be lost.

A lot of things happened since I left writing on this space for sure!

1. I call Sarawak home
2. I became an owner of the cutest Italian Greyhound
3. I started a mini online business

and...

4. W AND I ARE EXPECTING OUR FIRST CHILD!

How wild is that? 

I really have no intention to return to this space or blogging to be really really honest until I had a conversation with a fellow Dayrean on InstaMessage. She was telling me how she'll be missing out on my pregnancy journey (one very hot topic on Dayre too haha). That kinda struck me a little cos I remembered while I was feeling really 'sick' 7 weeks into my pregnancy...I was quite desperate to find any sort of information or stories online to feel better (somehow). It's my first pregnancy and I was clueless, didn't know what to expect at all! I can't seem to find any posts by Singaporean bloggers writing about their early pregnancy journey then! Most posts were just really nice pregnancy announcements . 

So, I toyed with the idea of returning to this space to maybe document my first pregnancy? I'm not sure how diligent I'll be, so I'm really still on the fence!

I'm guessing it might be useful to mommies-to-be (like me zzz). Exactly like how I get a handful of messages every now and then asking me about my chosen wedding venue at Ritz Carlton Millenia (Garden Pavilion) in Singapore, little did I know an old post of mine written back in 2016 could actually help fellow brides-to-be in some tiny way! 

I shall ponder over this and have a great weekend everyone!

With ,

Gina

Where do I even start?

It has been a long long while since I updated this space. I won't deny that I kind of lost interest in blogging here in this space cause, hey no one is reading anyways & I really don't have that much interesting topics to cover all the time haha.

Anyways, the reason behind me starting to write on this space is really just to have some fun where I can talk about almost anything or everything that I am interested in but no one else is 😅.

So far I talked about planning my wedding(s), holidays, beauty buys, etc. And guess what! Just yesterday, a lovely bride-to-be who was gonna celebrate her wedding at The Garden Pavilion at Ritz Carlton Millenia mid this year dropped me a DM on my instagram. Like me, she didn't find a lot of wedding photos or details about the venue online but she chanced upon my blog post randomly! I was of course, very happy to share my great experience with Ritz Carlton Millenia and also glad that she have me now to ask about anything about the venue. I wished I had a bride (who held her wedding at the Garden Pavilion) to speak to when I decided to hold my wedding there but too bad I don't think it's a popular choice of venue for Singaporean brides (I'll talk about that next time).

So yea, I thought it's actually a good idea to continue writing in this space because someone out there might want to read it one day? Lol...

Anyways, it might be a better time now to start rattling here again as I am at a stage where I am more "settled". Since the last entry in August 2016, a lot of things happened!

GOT MY DRIVING LICENSE

Come come clap for me please 👏 ! I finally took the test again after failing my first attempt almost 2 years ago! By the way my test date was 9 days before our wedding. As if wedding planning isn't stressful enough, I remembering semi regretting my decision after booking the test date but eh the amount can't be refunded so I had no choice haha. It was pretty hard to schedule my lessons as I was spending much of my time in Sarawak and of course after not driving for so long, I gave back most of what've learnt too! 

And guessed what, I got one of the most-warned-against tester AND it was raining (not heavy but still of all days!). Lucky me, I overcame all odds and passed the test! Phew!

I GOT MARRIED (TWICE!)

Twice but to the same man la! I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but we had a dinner reception in Singapore and Sarawak. The wedding reception in Singapore took place in December which happened to be my favourite month of the year 😍! By the way I've received all the actual day photographs from my photographer, Samuel Goh. I posted a handful of wedding photos on my instagram so if you are interested, please head over to @abcdefginayin 😊 . Our wedding reception in Sarawak was in January (less than a month apart) but we had a planner for that dinner so everything turned out really well! I actually loved our wedding in Sarawak more to be honest and I seriously am looking forward to our photos!

WENT FOR OUR HONEYMOON(S)

We visited Melbourne after our wedding in Singapore, a minimoon before our wedding in Sarawak! Usually we travel in December as it's dear husband's birthday month, so just nice! I've never been to Melbourne so it was pretty exciting for me! We had some really good brunches, stayed a night at Meletos Farmhouse, ate really awesome cheeses, picked strawberries, had some really fresh seafood, took a hot air balloon (omg), did some shopping (year end sales are 😍), had the best cupcakes in the world and got blown away by the amazing food at Vue de Monde.

In January we went for our actual honeymoon! We actually planned & booked everything when we started our wedding planning haha! Guess where we went? *drum rolls* We went to Finland! Insanely beautiful place, we decided to stay at Kakslauttanen Artic Resort. We tried husky sledding, horseback riding, took the snow mobil & a snow tank! We stayed one night at the glass igloo (the rest of the nights we stayed in a regular cabin) but too bad we didn't manage to see those crazy northern lights (another excuse to visit heh).

We ended our honeymoon in Paris! We enjoyed Paris so much, Louvre was amazing, we had some really great Parisian food, had a romantic dinner at Guy Savoy and did some really intense shopping (c'mon its Paris!!!). We stayed at Hotel Regina and we were so lucky to get a room that had a view of the Eiffel Tower, absolutely stunning! Limited photos here but you get the idea!

I HAVE BRACES ON (AGAIN)

I got them fixed on Valentine's Day! I've only got myself to blame for not wearing my retainers like I should (many years back). My lower teeth was moving a lot for the past 2 years, I couldn't stand it anymore so yeap! I went with the ceramic ones this time round, so it will be less obvious. I didn't choose to do Invisalign as I am not confident that I'll keep them on all the time 😅.

GOT THE KEYS TO OUR APARTMENT IN SARAWAK

I've been waiting for this day since forever! I am so looking forward to have own space in Sarawak! I think the first step to feel at home here is to build my own home. Renovations have officially started days ago and I can't wait for everything to be completed! It'll probably take anywhere between 2-3 months since we are doing quite many things for this apartment. I'll definitely do a little apartment tour when it's ready.

Wa, what a lengthy post! I really didn't mean to talk that much but might as well! I'm not sure when I'll update this space again but we'll see! I'm more active on Instagram/ Dayre, follow me there if you wish 😉. Meanwhile, keep shining!

With love,

Gina