Growing bigger and learning to do more things...

Abigail waking up

Having just discovered how to upload videos, here is one of Abi waking up.

http://youtu.be/ykvDZ9xfqD8

My favorite close-up photo

Just in case you think Abigail doesn't cry...

... here is proof that she does cry sometimes.

But there are happy times too. And she has recently learnt how to entertain herself (for 15min at a time) in a caterpillar gym.

Yes! I made it!

Not sure what she feels so proud of achieving as she can't really tell us yet.

Is her brain getting bigger?

The top half of her head seems to be getting bigger faster than the rest of her face.

This appears more prominent when she is asleep and her facial features shrink.

Do you remember the kitten in Shrek?

Well, this is Abigail imitating the killer-sweet look of the kitten, with big round eyes, as if enticing you to pick her up.

Is there more than one way of sucking your thumb?

Well, this is how Abigail sucks her thumb - with the other four fingers spread out over her face and her other hand supporting the hand with the sucked thumb.

How many men does it take to feed a baby?

Three in this case: one to hold the baby, one to hold the bottle, and one to give instructions. :P

Jaundice is cleared!

Abigail on the way to the polyclinic to have her jaundice level checked... it has been high - peaked at bilirubin of 225 last week and now it's down to 92! Yay!! So she doesn't have to have it checked again.

Back at home, having a well-deserved rest and chuffed about her jaundice clearing.

Photos of Abigail's first 2 weeks

Abigail when she was born... with daddy holding her, and grandpa and grandma beside her. Mummy was lying on the operating table being stitched up.

Abigail playing with her mittens.

Abigail's favorite sleeping position... doesn't really like to be swaddled all the time.

Abigail thinking about how she likes the big world outside...

... and deciding it's quite hard work. She has to eat, poo, pee... and most of all she has to tell the people around her what she wants and they don't always understand what she is trying to say. Even so, the big world has people who love her and play with her. So maybe it's not so bad after all.

Abigail holding on to daddy's hand.

Abigail playing with her uncle's little fingers.

For those who want a technical account...

... of what happened:

At 40+5, Abi's head was still very high and not engaged. The cervix was starting to soften, efface and dilate, so I was given Prostaglandin (Prostin) tablet on the cervix to help it move along... it made the contractions very frequent - about once every 1-2 minutes such that I could not distinguish one contraction to the next and it felt like a long continuous contraction. They were rather ineffective but getting more and more painful, so I ended up having some pethidine for pain relief... which helped (thankfully).

20 hours after the Prostaglandin was given, the cervix was still only 3-4cm and not much progress had been made. So I had an artificial rupture of membranes and syntocin drip to move things along a little bit. And the cervix did dilate nicely from 3-4cm to 9cm over the next 8 hours. But then it got stuck there at 9cm, and the head was still not engaged. Apparently the head shape was caput and the presentation was LOT so the head was just not descending. And because the cervix was not fully dilated, the doctor was not prepared to pull the head down due to risk of head injury. We have it a good 4 hours in hope that the contractions will make the head rotate and descend or make the cervix fully dilate. But it did not happen, so we called it a day and went ahead with a Ceasarean section 33 hours after the Prostaglandin tablet was given.

2 things I learnt not to underestimate - labour and a Ceasarean section.
1. Labour is tiring even with painkillers. It's not just the pain that drains energy out of you.
2. A Ceasarean section wound looks small but it still takes time to recover from it especially when you are trying to breastfeed and adjust to a newborn baby at the same time.

Goh Rui En, Abigail

Born 11 October 2011 at 20:54, weighing 3.145kg

Goh is her surname, from her father.

Goh is the Teochew dialect pronunciation of 吴 (wu2) which is Wu in Mandarin.

Rui En is her Chinese name: 

睿 (rui4) as translated by google translate means farsighted, astute and perspicacious.

恩 (en1) means grace, kindness and favour.

Abigail is her English name, meaning "the father's joy". In 1 Samuel 25, she was an "intelligent and beautiful woman", but unfortunately married a fool whose life she saved. But when Nabal (the fool she married) heard about how Abigail saved his life, his heart failed him and he became unconscious and died ten days later. She then became the wife of King David. To read the whole story, go to http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+25&version=NIV

So her names can be variously positioned as follows:

Goh Rui En

吴睿恩  (wu2 rui4 en1)

Abigail Goh

Abigial Goh Rui En

Goh Rui En, Abigail

Her name in her birth certificate is Goh Rui En, Abigail

40+4 and counting...

Overdue now by 4 days and just waiting for something to happen.

We now have an internet radio, courtesy of our dear friend who brought it back from the UK for us. We appreciate it very much and listen to BBC radio 4, Magic and some other radio channels that we cannot get on a normal radio. This morning, we were listening to UCB international (a Christian radio station) and a very appropriate song was played - an old and familiar song "Because He Lives". I thought the 2nd verse was particularly apt:

How to sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he brings;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He lives.

Church meeting in school halls

We have just started attending All Saints' English (English congregation of All Saints' Church) and have been there for 3 weeks so far. They meet in a school hall and I think there is something to be said about churches which meet in school halls. The building in which a church meets somehow both reflects and shapes the life of the church.

I grew up in a Chinese Methodist Church in Singapore, typically located in a building with a large sanctuary for church services (usually several in various languages and dialects) and a similarly large "social hall" or "fellowship hall". Throughout each Sunday morning, congregations of various sizes fill up and empty the large sanctuary at the appointed times, and adjourn to the social hall for breakfast or lunch fellowship depending on the time of the day. The fellowship hall is usually a big space with stackable chairs and foldable tables used in different configurations to suit the different needs. There is space for kids to run around, for elderly people to sit in small groups to watch the kids run around, space for young people to gather together and play the guitar, and for adults to huddle and exchange news. So you can imagine the kind of church life in such a place - certainly one with a strong sense of family and community.

I then spent a large part of my young adult life in a conservative evangelical church meeting in a modern building that was still recognizably "church". The sanctuary was the main and central part of the building, with a little corridor and several small rooms upstairs for kids to meet and learn about God during the service. There was a tiny kitchen and a small back hall located at the back of the church that was used for simple food and drink preparation and small meetings which involved coffee and cake. Over the years, there have been efforts to have meals together - trying to squeeze as many people as possible in the back hall, but still having limited space and therefore necessitating sign-up sheets and first come-first served policies. There was strong sense of "established-ness" and importance of the pulpit and preaching of the word as the main work of the church, together with efforts of good Christian people doing good Christian things.

Here and there, I have also attended traditional and "high" services in really old church buildings which should really be called cathedrals rather than churches - traditional evensong in St Paul's Cathedral, Ely Cathedral and King's College Chapel where all the prayers and psalms and sung by a choir comprising only boys and men, as well as modern services held in old cathedral buildings. Many of these cathedrals are typically large stone buildings with beautiful stained glass windows and various little enclosures of wooden pews facing each other, adorned with ornate carvings and candles. When you enter these little enclosures and sit in the pews, there is a strong sense of being in a sacred place which demands quiet meditation and reverent prayer. The spiritual experience of God's presence just cannot be replicated elsewhere and I cannot explain that feeling of having met God at a personal level when I leave the place.

And then there are churches that meet in school halls, of which I have been to two - an Anglican church plant in London for 6 months when I was working there, and now an English congregation of an Anglican church for 3 weeks (so far). When you strip away the obligatory big cross on the front wall, the stained glass (whether one modern stained glass strip or the innumerable stained glass depictions of biblical scenes and saintly people), take away the pews and the altar up at the front... you are left with God's people meeting to worship God together. And when you meet God and God's people in that environment, you experience something that is undoubtedly real rather than constructed. There is something fresh and honest about the encounter with God and fellowship with God's people.

Different church buildings are suited to different churches, and different churches are suited to different people. There are also different seasons in life that we all go through, during which a different church environment may be more conducive for spiritual renewal and growth. In the end, what matters is a space which facilities our communion with God and God's people and building of those relationships, wherever that place may be.

Our new home

We have just moved! We now live in East Meadows, which is a condominium just a stone's throw away from Tanah Merah MRT station.

This is the view of the condominium from the MRT station platform... just across a field.

And this is the view from our kitchen... you can just see a train coming out of the MRT station.

We moved about 1 month ago, and we are nearly done with unpacking... the home is functional and we had some friends over for dinner yesterday. But we are not fully done with setting up yet. Will post more photos of the inside of our flat later on... hopefully before our little daughter is born! Two and a half more weeks to the estimated delivery date!

Ghost month is here

This is a very common sight around Singapore today... It's the start of Ghost month, when the ghosts of deceased are supposedly released from heaven and hell to wander around the earth for a month. And so shops and eateries set up tables with food offered to these ghosts, and gold coloured joss paper and hell money is also burned so that the ghosts can use them.

Households also do their fair share of burning of incense and joss paper, to please the wandering ghosts so that they don't bring misfortune into the house. This picture above is the ground floor of our block of flats... I guess people improvise rituals to suit modern day living by doing the burning at the edge of the tiled floor area of the block.

To read more about the Ghost month, consult the fountain of knowledge - Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Festival

Do I get preferential treatment...

... on the MRT train nowadays? That's what a friend asked me today. Well, it is generally regarded as a common courtesy to offer your seat "to those who need it more". That includes the elderly, the handicapped, those with young children and the pregnant. And there are many advertising campaigns to remind the general public of this obligation.

Well, I replied, only somtimes. Maybe I don't look that pregnant yet. Pong is constantly amused by me asking him if I look pregnant. I think it rather depends on what clothes I wear - sometimes I just look fat. Although Pong now replies almost every day that I do look pregnant, regardless of what I wear. I guess at 24 weeks, it is hard to hide the fact that I am pregnant.

I think sometimes people don't offer me a seat, not because they do not think I need it more than them. (Indeed, I may not need the seat as much as them. After all, pregnancy is not an illness, but a normal life event right?) I think sometimes people are just too engrossed in what they are doing to realise who is standing in front of them or what is going on in front of their eyes. This man was so engrossed in looking at his phone that he didn't realise I took a photo of him, even though I was standing right in front of him in a crowded MRT train.

More pictures of the baby... it's going to be a girl!

Here is one of her with her arm and hand reaching towards her face.

And this is one of her face! Pong says it looks a little scary at the moment...

General elections are here!

General elections are here, and there is really a sense of excitement in the air. This is the 2nd time since independence in 1965 that the People's Action Party (PAP) was not returned to power on nomination day. At the last elections in 2006, 47 out of 84 seats were contested, the first time that the PAP was not returned to power on nomination day. But they still won 82 out of 84 seats in parliament.
This time around, 82 out of 87 seats are contested, and there is a hope that this will be a watershed election where the number of opposition seats in parliament can grow.

There is a great disparity between the support for the incumbent and opposition at the nightly rallies. But whether this opposition support translates into votes or not remains to be seen. First picture is of turnout at PAP rally, second picture is of the turnout at an opposition rally.

For Matthew...

Well, these are technically trams rather than trains... but I thought Matthew might be interested in them still... it's a cross between a train and a bus.

There's a green one... they share the road with cars and bicycles. So there are tram lines in the middle of the road, and more complicated traffic rules at junctions.

And here is a brown tram waiting at the traffic light for its turn. The brown trams are free for everyone apparently, sponsored jointly by the tourism board and the city council and maybe someone else.

Hello from Downunder!

I am currently holidaying in Melbourne, Australia, for a week, visiting my aunt and uncle who have migrated here. And this is my prize photo from today's visit to the city centre.

Mobile phones are taking over the world!

Well, at least they seem to be doing so in Singapore.

On the MRT (mass rapid transit) train, almost everyone entertains themselves by looking at their mobile phone...

My husband is no exception, here he is playing with his phone.

Even little kids play with them! If ever there was a plan to take over the world, I think the plan will have to include mobile phones.

Sorry for the long radio silence...

... have been struggling with nausea and fatigue as there is a little baby cooking in my tummy!

Here is a picture of it at 6 weeks... just a blob. :P

And here is a picture of it at 12 weeks... more of a shape to it... this was taken on Thursday 31 March.

Man selling roasted chestnuts...

 

The things that you can't do...

On the MRT train... with the relevant fine, presumably proportional to the magnitude of the offence. Note that you can't bring durians (a pungent smelling fruit) on the MRT train, but there isn't a fine for it.

Chinese New Year is coming...

Make-shift stalls are set up in many places to sell all sorts of Chinese New Year stuff. It's not unlike Christmas in the UK I suppose, with random Christmas markets popping up in many places.

This stall is selling Chinese New Year decorations.

This one is selling groundnuts of different vareties.

This one is selling Chinese sausages, waxed duck and salted fish.

Ridiculously long queues form outside a shop in Chinatown...

This shop... "Lim Chee Guan" which sells barbecued pork.

This is what the barbecued pork looks like... The prices will keep increasing every few days until Chinese New Year itself.