29 Oct 2008 - New TV arrives

After a few days of delay in the delivery, our new LCD TV has finally "arrived".

Jerlene was very excited when the delivery man started fixing up the TV. The image is very much sharper than our previous projection TV. Also this TV is not just a TV as it comes with many advance features such as wireless connectivity, feeds from internet (stocks, weather, news), pre-loaded content library, playing movies directly from thumbdrive and a lot more. Best thing is, the price of LCD TV has come down quite a bit over the past few years.

27 Oct 2008 - More Orchids blooms

Loves the "never say die" spirit of my orchids. I never have to water or care much about it. Sometimes, it seems to be "dying" but days later, new shoots grow out of the stem.

25 Oct 2008 - Goodbye Projection TV

Last night, we bought a Samsung Series 7 LCD TV from Gain City Expo Sale. It is to replace our current Projection TV in our living room which has started to show double images. It's bad for our eyes...... But before the LCD TV is being delivered, we need to dispose off the current one (below) first.

So we looked through the papers to see if there is anyone who is looking for old TVs. We found one interested party and he's able to dispose today. He came, saw the condition of the TV, agree to a buying price, and off he goes with the TV. As the TV was being removed from our TV console and out of our house, Jerlene started crying!!!!! She loves to see her daddy playing Wii games on that TV. If the TV is gone, it means daddy cannot play Wii games for her anymore. Guess that's the reason why she cried. Every now and then when she sees the empty TV console, she will give me that kind of sad look....... :(

19 Oct 2008 - Crab band

Jerlene loves the crab band that we brought back from Osaka. Everytime before we walked out from from our house these few days, she will automatically take the crab band from our dining table and request me to wear for her. She will wear it wherever we go.......even when she's sleeping...... :-)

18 Oct 2008 - Showing off her Hi-5 moves

As I've said in one of my previous posts, Jerlene has already mastered the dance moves of more than 10 Hi-5 songs. So every time I sing, depending on what song it is, she will dance that particular steps. However, she always try to "show off" by doing the steps even before I sing to that point. I tried to capture some of her steps this morning but she became very conscious after she saw my camera. Anyway the below videos should give you some ideas how she dance........

17 Oct 2008 - Jerlene went for a hair trim

We brought Jerlene to a hair salon for some trimming today. Her hair grows very fast and our parents kept "complaining" her hair is too long every now and then. Again we brought her to the salon at Bishan. She looks a bit "tut" again after the hair cut, but cute.....haha.......

This is before.......

And this is after.....

17 Oct 2008 - Week 13 of pregnancy and my take on Down Syndrome

I accompanied Tracy to the gynae today for another regular checkup. As usual, she did an ultra sound scan and we can see the baby very clearly.
The main objective this time round is to do a Nuchal Scan (some call it a neck scan). A nuchal scan is a sonographic prenatal screening scan ultrasound to help identify higher risks of Down syndrome in developing babies, particularly for older mothers who have higher risks of such pregnancies. The scan is carried out at 11-13 weeks pregnancy and assesses the amount of fluid behind the neck of the fetus - also known as 'the nuchal translucency'. Babies at risk of Down syndrome tend to have a higher amount of fluid around the neck. Nuchal scanning alone detects 62% of all Down Syndrome with a false positive rate of 5.0%
The above shows where the gynae took the measurement. He measured a few times and it ranges from 1.8mm to 2.1mm, which is normal. At 12 weeks of gestational age, an "average" nuchal thickness of 2.18mm has been observed. If it is more than 2.5mm, then the risk of Down Syndrome will be much higher.

There is another type of scan called the Oscar Test which has a higher accuracy of detecting Down syndrome. However, Tracy and I decided not to take the test. During Jerlene's time, she did not take the test as well. We have been asking ourselves..."So what if the test result is positive?Are we going to abort the baby?" My decision is very clear for myself. No matter what, I will still want to keep the baby. It's still a life and how can we take it away just like that........ Furthermore, what if the result is not accurate and the baby is actually normal? Even with the best non-invasive screens, the detection rate is 90%–95% and the rate of false positive is 2%–5%.

Some friends told me that they will abort Down syndrome baby because they feel that the baby will be suffering his/her whole life. However, I challenge them by asking "How do you know they are suffering? How do you know they are not happier than those normal people?" All I can see is that there are many so called "normal" people like ourselves, are also suffering from all sorts of exam stress, work stress, mental stress etc etc. And when I see those Down syndrome individuals, they seem to be happier and would strive to live their lifes to the fullest. Anyway, the important thing is, the baby is yours and it's your decision to have one. So no matter what happens, I think we have to take full responsibility. My love as a daddy to my own children will always be the same regardless of any situation.

Extracted from Babycenter for pregnancy at 13 weeks:
"How the baby is growing: Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce."

14 Oct 2008 - Jerlene learns to use chopsticks

Tonight after picking up Jerlene, we bought noodles on the way home for dinner. As we were eating, Jerlene was observing us very closely. Initially we thought she just wanted to eat but when we almost finished the noodles, Jerlene kept asking for the chopsticks. We passed her one pair and she started imitating us on how to pick up the noodles with the chopsticks. Surprisingly, the way she holds the chopsticks is quite proper and she did manage to pick up some. She was having so much fun simply with a pair of chopsticks and a packet of noodles.

12 Oct 2008 - My orchids blossom AGAIN!

This morning when I pulled up my window blinds, I was surprised to see a stalk of orchid buds in my planter. If you have been following my blog since last year, you should have known that it blossom for the first time in June last year (27 Jun 2007 - My Orchid bloom finally). At that time, Jerlene was about 5 months old and now, she is already 20 months old. And her sibling is now in mommy's stomach at 3 months old.
So far, my orchids will blossom whenever there is a new life. Is it simply coincidence?

10 Oct 2008 - Week 12 of pregnancy

Extracted from Babycenter:
At week 12, "How your baby's growing:The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long and weighs half an ounce."

Tracy's morning sickness has slowly left her alone but she had been complaining that her taste bud is not functioning properly now. Everything that she eats taste bitter. As such, she has to brush very frequently to get rid of the "bitterness". Hopefully, by 2nd trimester, which is in a week's time, things will get better.

As for Jerlene, she is as "sticky" as usual. That's the reason why I hardly could find time to blog. I sometimes have to wake up in the middle of the night to blog........sigh........but when I look back at all my past postings and recollect those memories, having some sleepless nights are worth every bit....... :-)

8 Oct 2008 - Jerlene calls "Daddy"

Since few days back, I finally heard Jerlene call me "daddy". Her pronunciation is perfect. She says it in a very soft tone and it sounds so sweet. The way she says it melts every part of me..... There is simply no way that I will reject any of her request. Though she has been calling me Papa for quite a while already, but it just felt so much sweeter when she calls daddy, especially in that soft tone...... :-)

Although her speech development is considered a bit slow, I'm now very very contented. :-)

5 Oct 2008 - Admiralty Park

Tracy heard from the news that Phase 2 of Admiralty Park project has just been launched. The two-km trail - part of Phase 2 of the Admiralty Park project - promises a wide variety of flora and fauna, not all commonly seen, as visitors traipse through the three habitats: open grassland, forest and mangrove. Since it is just a minute drive from our place, we decided to take a stroll in the park after breakfast.

There are two carparks to the park. Looking at the park map, I decided to enter from the north entrance since it is nearer to the mangrove swamp, which I'm more interested in.

We took our own sweet time to stroll slowly into the park. Jerlene was quite excited as this is her first time to experience a forest like environment. After walking for about 15mins, we reached the mangrove area where there is a wooden bridge. We saw a couple of monkeys as well.

We did not stay in the park for too long because the weather did not look too good. It seemed like it's going to rain very soon. So we quickly walked back to our car. From the carpark, we can actually look across the Straits of Johor into JB.

We will definitely visit Admiralty Park again in the near future to explore the other parts of the park.

1 Oct 2008 - Suspense REVEALED!!!

By now, I think most of you would have guessed it already. For those who are still puzzled what A.N.L....J.G.A.S means, did you notice that there are now two tickers under Jerlene's Growth Chart? Yes, A.N.L....J.G.A.S means "A New Life....Jerlene Got A Sibling".

Some of you had guessed Jerlene Got A Sister, but at this stage (11 weeks), still cannot tell the sex of the baby yet. But I do hope that Jerlene will have a sister..... ;-)

Below are the ultra scans of the little one at weeks 6.....
and week 10.........

During the week 6 scan, I can only see the heart beat but at week 10, I can already see the hand moving very clearly. The little one seems to be waving at daddy, mommy and Jerlene.

Got the following info from BabyCenter website.
At 11 week, "The baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming."

Unlike the previous pregnancy, Tracy had been suffering from morning sickness for the past 2 months. Hopefully her nauseous feeling will go away as we move into second trimester. We have taught Jerlene how to "sayang" the baby (rubbing mommy's stomach gently) and Tracy will feel a lot better whenever Jerlene does that.