Yay Nursery DONE!

Ok blogging has been such a chore lately,SO SORRY TO EVERYONE that told me not to stop blogging, but I think I can really only manage one more after this, and then I'll be on hiatus for a while... maybe forever?

I'm pleased to say I finally completely finished the nursery though! I was gonna write up this long post about all the stuff that you need in a nursery for other pregnant friends, but now I really can't be bothered :( I can share some pics though, and if anyone wants to know where I got stuff from just email me!

Hanging up and folding the stacks of clothes we got as gifts - this is my fave chillout room now :)

Nugget's ZZzzzz zone:

Some necessities -  Stokke Stroller & accessories, Maxi-Cosi Mico carseat, My Little Lamb swing, Diaper Champ bin, wheely change trolley, Bumbo chair:

Medela breast pump, bathtub & toys, Breast cream/pads and other essentials, Itzbeen timer, Baby monitors to watch him on:

Stuffed toy area (not full yet), baby calender, Burberry & Chloe baby bags, swaddles & blankies :)

I also got a lots of different toys, bottles, bibs, burp cloths, clotes, books, and a whole stack of post-partum "getting body back" stuff like the Belly Bandit, Shrinx Hips and Anita Re-belt Girdle - I hope they work!!

Will blog again before I go to hopsital!

xxoo

Update & (another) Baby Shower!!

So the update on my placenta is that it is still too low for a natural birth - it didn't move at all for the last month BOOO!! I think cos I got so excited that it had moved last time, I totally forgot about resting and started running around and ruined it. OH WELLS it is still much better than before. And at least now we have a date for the c-section scheduled in for before Xmas so that is really soon!

The other sad news is that I am still sick as a dog *woof*. Seriously, pregnancy sickness sucks balls, I spend the whole night coughing up phlegm and trying to breathe through my mouth and if I see another lemon after this I will prob stab my eye with a blunt shovel. Ughs. At least I have my MUMMY here!! She's doing everything for me and I can order her around without feeling bad like I sometimes do with the maid. And she's helping me interview for a full-time helper to start right after Nugget is born :)

She also told me that I'm too fat, which is totally true. Actually I thought I was quite fine up until last week when my face suddenly ballooned and now I look like a chipmunk gathering nuts for winter. BLERGHHHHH.

Now to the exciting part - our friends in Seoul organised Becky & I an awesome baby shower on the weekend, and it was so much fun! They went to so much trouble, I'm so blessed to have all these wonderful people in my life, and even luckier that I got 2 showers. Thank you God for bringing so much love into our lives ♥

Setting up - what a great sign!

I got my mink coat!! And guess what else - my mum gave me her brand new one too, so now I have 2 super luxurious, ridiculously priced, totally amoral items of animal. Each mink coat is 50 dead female minks, how sad is that? But we wear leather, rabbit and fox collars and plus aren't there heaps of minks in the world...? They might get eaten by a lion if they're not made into coats right?

In the kitchen - check out all the food they prepared! I was ravenous... nom nom~~

Making a baby out of play-doh. It was HARD. I kept wanting to give ours a circumcised penis but it didn't turn out so well...

My team's baby is the retarded pink one on the left, and Steve's team is that purple one that looks like an Orc from Lord of the Rings. The winning team was orange, cos they had a safety pin on a diaper. So skilled.

Our team totally failed the next game too, cos Dave almost threw up the baby food!! It must have been groooooosss. But Dorothy was a good sport and sucked that bottle til the end, even though we were already out of the game hahahaha

You can tell Ryan (top right) won the other game where u have to steal pegs off people when they say the words "baby, boy,  & pregnant". By the end of the night I think he pretty much had everyone's pegs lol.

Me & Becky's adorable cake!

Family + Group shots:

Some of my presents. YAY!!! I am almost fully stocked and ready to go now :D

Last group shot. On the right is what happens when you're not fast enough for the timer...

Btw my friends Jay & Mandy just had their 2nd little boy in Shanghai. What a cutie! 

She was skinny her entire pregnancy, unlike me... I think she only gained 9kgs with the second one, I've gained double :(  See??

ARghhhh... maybe I'll gain less with the next one, I think most ppl tend to gain more with the first cos you have no idea what you're doing...

Besides Becky, I have 2 other friends due at the same time as me and guess what they are ALL BOYS... my Nugget is gonna have a hard time finding a mate when he grows up~~!!

Thanksgiving this Thursday! We're having 2 Thanksgiving dinners on the weeked - YUM TURKEY CAN'T WAIT. Plz plz plz let me get better by then!

xxoo

Oh good boy, Nugget!

So if you haven't heard the good news already here it is again - my placenta has moved yippee!! Here's what happened: 3 weeks ago at my last scan I was still a total previa and the dr told me there is very little chance of it budging at all given the time we have left and the fact that total previas dont usually move. ANYWAY, I'm such a doctor slut, I have been going to multiple obs cos I cant make up my mind about which hospital to use - so I went to a new dr the other day and he told me that my placenta is "low lying" (still low but the least riskiest) I was like - HUH. No way. That would mean that it has moved up 4 stages in 3 weeks --- as if. So I went BACK to my original dr who didn't believe it either until she did a scan and then she was so surprised she didnt talk for a minute! She said that I'm really lucky and with any more luck it might move another 2cm which could potentially make it safe for me to deliver naturally!!!

THANK YOU GOD for listening to our prayers, you really perform miracles in our lives!!! We prayed so so hard for this, and all out friends have too - the power of prayer people, never underestimate it!

I have to use all my self control right now not to run around everywhere RAHH!! I want to be normal again, but its still not in the safe zone so I have to keep doing what I've been doing cos obviously it's working. We'll find out in another 3-4 weeks the final position and then I will have to make a decision on delivery based on that. I'm freaking out now, cos if it is safe I dont know if I'm mentally or physically prepared for a natural birth anymore. I wanted one so bad, but then I gave up on the idea and to get myself back into that frame of mind, prepare my body physically, educate myself and do classes - will be way too late...!! WHAT TO DOOOOOO...

Whatever it will be, I am just thankful and ever grateful to God and little Nugs for helping me out by shifting that uncooperative placenta. I just know Nugs is gonna be a smart kid, he's already doing his part to make life easier for me :D

So update - lately I've been getting these sharp stabbing pains in my vagina and sometimes in my bottom. It really hurts, like someone is digging a knife in there! I thought it was Braxton Hicks but that's not meant to be painful, so I think Nugs has conveniently found his way around my innards and is probably stepping on a nerve booo :( ... I'm also not really getting more than 5hrs sleep a night, and I feel tired alllll the time. The usual constant peeing, leg cramps, back pain, weight gain, skin irritation, etc is escalating and right now I just feel like a fatigued cuddly ball that waddles around like a duck. Noodle loves it :)

I think I've also found my hospital FINALLY. Its the best women's one in Seoul - expensive but I think worth it, with an excellent international clinic and their own cord banking system, private suites, etc. I was kinda sold on the wireless internet in the rooms, and the large couches for your family to sit and sleep in. If I get the big room, I'll be able to have at least 2ppl stay with me at night if I want which is nice. The hospital system is still Korean (husband not allowed in the surgery, very little time with baby if you can't breastfeed), but I think I am strong enough to handle that. PLUS I found this Japanese place that does breast massage and I'm gonna start visiting them before I'm due so that it can help with the milk production - I dont wanna have trouble breastfeeding!! Steve wasn't breastfed at all and he has a million digestive problems and it really sucks balls, whereas I have none even though I did bad "things" and abused laxatives plus every other f**ed-up thing you could do to your body when I was young. I eat crap all the time and never get sick, and even when everyone else gets a tummy bug from something I'm always the only one that's fine - I like to think its because my mum was so diligent with my breastfeeding. THANKS MUM. Plus... I spent so much money on that breastpump I bought it better go to good use!

Here's Nugs at 30 weeks - the one on the left looks a bit like bride of Chucky lol. We missed the window of opportunity to do a 3D scan when you can see the baby's face, now he's too big and I can't do it. Never mind, not much longer to go now!

Btw, they have changed my actual due date to Xmas Day which means I'm actually more than 31weeks, but the problem is that c-sections for placenta problems have to be performed 2 weeks early - which would make Nugs a SAGGITARIUS! NOOOO!!!! I wont go into my Saggitarius complex right now, but let's just say its keeping me up at night and I would do anything NOT to have a Sag baby. Plz plz plz let me know able to have the operation on the 22nd - first day of Capricorn would be fab, even if it does mean that he will never really have a proper bday. We'll make sure he gets an extra big bday/Xmas present every year :D

Here's me @ Mui Mui restaurant with Grace Park... fab mussels, ho-hum pasta

... and at this French crepe place for dessert that was really cute but had sucky crepes and shitty service. My hair is a fake pony hehe, I took my extensions out and now I have no hair :(

Noodlely has also been very helpful lately! She's been trying out all the gifts people have given us and giving them a test run first. Here she is testing out the activity mat & brake suspension on the Bumbo wheels:

I've just been told that the newest edition of 10 Mag just came out with my face on the cover! Haven't seen it yet, hoping for minimal water retention and swelling in the face. Will post up the pictures next~~!!

xxoo

What's in a name?

So I finally signed up for my friend Mel's boyfriend Danny's business Fashionstake, which is a cool crowdfunding concept that allows you to view and make a "stake" on up and coming designers. You get to view their trunk shows and if enough capital is raised then you are offered a huge discount on the collection. If not, you dont get charged. ANYWAY... during my research I discovered that Danny actually has his own Wikipedia page (albeit a little out of date) and that got me thinking about how the results you find on Google when you search someone can sometimes be a measure of their worth (Linked In and Facebook profiles excluded).

For example... if you search my husband's name and then "Sydney" you'll get an article written about him when he was still a little'un trader hehe... if you search my name and "Sydney" you'll get one result BUT if you search my name and then "Seoul" you'll quite a few articles and fashion pieces. Wonder if that means that I'm of more value in Korea than I am back home, or if it simply means that there is noone else with the same name that lives here... (Of course, if you search "Grace Sun" on its own you'll get the fashion designer - ooooh how to differentiate myself from her!!)

What's in a name? Well, a lot really. We have spent months searching for the perfect name for Nugs and I am quite happy to announce that we have (almost) found it. We're quite sure of what it will be now, but just working on the spelling, as there are so many ways to spell it. So anyway, in order to avoid some other kid with the same name taking his glory later, I did a Google search to find how many people with combinations of that name exist right now. The good news is that it's not very popular, so only 1 or 2 results show up for each spelling. There is one spelling combination that gives no other results *woop* but it's also probably the worst way to spell it and looks weird.

Anyway, I figure that if he's a super achiever then it wont matter cos he'll always come up as the top result -  like Bruce Lee & Karl Lagerfeld.

Speaking of Nugs being the best, I decided to check out the Equestrian Club not far from my place (Nugs must be skilled in all areas of life, you see). My friend Terry is a horserider and she goes every week. They have ponies for kids and its so cute. I just know I'm gonna be a total soccer-slash-stage mum already, but really hope it doesn't become an all-consuming obsession like it did with my mum and our (mostly Emily's) music!

Terry's super friendly friend doing his jumps for the first time. It was really fun watching all the pros :)

We had a beautiful lunch at Buona Sera afterwards - its the restaurant featured in the Korean drama series "Pasta" and the service was so impeccable I forgot I was in Korea. They hang your coats, place your bag on a fancy bag hanger/hook from the table, time courses with just the right amount of interval (this is a challenge in Korea, believe me)... and give you free reign of the dessert selection.

We couldn't decide so we had one of everything. I will have to bring my mum back here, she's totally addicted to quality Italian & tiramasu and this was the best I've had in a long time. Less than 2weeks til she arrives now!

xxoo

Nugget @ 28 Weeks

Profile of face heehee:

YAY on the home stretch now! Breathed a huge sigh of relief this week as most people say that at 28wks the baby has a really good chance of survival, so if anything is to happen between now and the c-section date, I'm fairly confident that Nugget will be ok :)

The third trimester has brought with it a whole host of other symptoms though - none of them pleasant. First of all, I suddenly started getting severe heartburn that kept me up all night and was really painful. I think it has something to do with me eating big meals and too much spicy stuff haha. All my internal organs are getting squashed by the growing Nugget atm, so food travels really slowly and gets stuck. I do mini vomits in my throat all the time HAHAHA. Sleep has also become a bitch - I just can't get comfortable with this watermelon in the way & kicking me all the time... also squashing my bladder so that I have to get up 4 times a night to pee. I know this is God's way of preparing me for the sleepless nights to come, but it's making me cranky and miserable.

My belly is so big now, when Noodle wants her tummy rub I have to literally sit down on the floor to give it to her cos I can't bend. But once I'm down, I can't get up again without help so doing anything right now has become a huge hassle. Good thing mum's coming in 3 weeks, which is also when I officially finish work!

Another thing is that my weight has skyrocketed and I have stopped checking on the scales now for fear of passing out. The last time I checked a week ago I was 65. Diiiiiiiies. My gestational diabetes test came back negative, which has really given me incentive to eat as much cake and dessert as can respectfully fit in my mouth - multiple times a day. Apparently you can't get it again once it's negative so I'm super happy with an entire cheesecake in front of me atm :D

I'm also finding it increasingly hard to focus on work now and I'm spacey and forgetful all the time - sorry Ange, I know I still have to send you that press release for Dress Me Pretty but I'm just hopeless at the moment. To be honest, I can't even be bothered to blog and I haven't really been taking pictures when I go out so I can't even remember what I've been up to...

Here are a few things I have managed to remember:

Becky's bday followed by Seoul Writers book launch, where I won 6 packets of Tim Tams and gobbled them all up in 2 days. Oh yea, also the day when I should have kept my scarf on... can't control where my twins end up right now, they have a life of their own!

Our neighbours (from our old place) who we never made an effort to meet up with until now - after we've moved! Haha... everyone we know has a baby! It's so weird, I guess I never noticed all the babies around me until I got pregnant...

Pressies from neighbours, Ang (my Seoul Writers friend), and yes... that is more mooncake from ppl in Taiwan. I'm insatiable... *gob gob gob*

Nat came from Shanghai to visit and this is me and Pinky (my Indian friend) on the way to this suuuuper yummy Indian restaurant she recommended to me.

She also gave me these Bollywood movies to watch, they are really funny. Steve thinks the humour is dumb but I think there's a lot to learn about Indian culture from watching them. Everyone thinks India is like "Slumdog Millionaire" but there's another side to it that I'm really beginning to learn about. I just finished All the Best and next I'm watching Once Upon a Time in Mumbai heehee.

I've also left the magazine, but still went to attend their bday party @ Antonios Ristorante (couldn't resist the food). What a great cake!!

Still bad news...

Sigh.

I'm so over hearing all this stuff that tells me I have high-risk, high-risk all the time. ARGH!!

So yesterday, I changed to a large hospital cos I dont think I can use my current doctor anymore as he's better for natural birth. Anyway, at the appointment the new doctor told me that there is very little ~ nil chance of my placenta moving up :(

PLUS on top of that she said that I have a heterogenous placenta which worsens the situation and she can see from the scan that the blood in the placenta is moving abnormally fast, which means there is a good chance I will start bleeding heavily before the operation. I have to get a bucket of blood drawn out of me as a precautionary measure so that they can use it for a blood transfusion!!

AND she said we can't tell right now if I'm a candidate for placenta accreta which is that really bad condition that can occur during the operation where I dont stop bleeding. A friend of mine knows someone that it happened to and she had to get her uterus taken out... which I guess is better than death, but that's the only other option so there's not much to choose from.

How depressing. And all these people comment on my blog saying I'm lucky and I have a perfect life?? Uh... lets swap! You can take all my hired help if you're willing to take the risk of a fatal operation with it. Hmph.

So anyway, as you can see I'm not too happy. The doc also said that its best if I dont do anything besides eating, going to the toilet and showering from now on. OMG dies... But I told her I can't give up working right now cos they still haven't found my replacement and she's like fine, but you might be hospitalised at any time grrrr!!!

The good news (as always) is that little Nugget @ 24 weeks is totally oblivious to any of this. 

Look, he's giving me a kiss!!! What an angel :)

If you want some less depressing reading material, take a look at Angela's blog - she's posted up her adventures in Seoul and the recipe to her yumdidilylicious red velvet cupcakes :) Oh, and speaking of Ange, I forgot to put up these pics she gave me from her wedding:

 

Lovely ♥

xxoo

Kevin & Mel in Korea

Ok. Sooooo super behind now I don't even know where to start. I'll just pick highlights and move on.

Kevin (Steve's best man) & Mel, the newly engaged couple came to visit us in Seoul, after travelling all around the States and SE Asia. Korea always seems to be either the first or last stop for everyone. Wonder if the fact that we're here has anything to do with it? :p

I didn't join for everything, being on partial bed rest and all. But you all know how I can't resist food, so I picked the restaurants that were worth participating in, ate, and then went home while they continued partying.

Hanwoori Korean shabu shabu noodles. This place on the top of Lotte Department is really good quality and delish. When you finish everything, they cook congee with the left over soup. Yummers...

Nice BBQ place near our place - we discovered that this place is really good for lunch a while ago. It's not too full of business people and they do specials at lunchtime on the weekends. Goodie!!

Some other places they went to that I missed out on. They did the DMZ tour too, which I really recommend for people next time they come (give up the shopping just for one day plz!!) Last time when my sister did it she picked up these 2 Irish guys on the tour and then went out on a secret date with them the next day w/o telling me, and then said she only did it cos one of them looked like Ashton Kutcher. Hmm...

The traditional restaurant in Insadong that we went to on Mel's bday:

And then cake & desserts @ the Grand Hyatt. Lovely view!

Noodley realllly likes playing on the piano. It's so exciting for her! Must run in the genes :P

Oooooh Nugget got more pressies! Ralph Lauren beanie, booties, onesie, and towelling gown. Thanks guys!!

Promise to post up a proper blog next time. Right now I'm flat out - have to get 2 restaurant reviews done asap for work!! It used to be so much fun going out and getting free food, now it's just a chore cos I like the cook's food better... hehe.

Laterz~! xxoo

I have placenta pervia *sniff... :'(

BAD NEWS. My 20week scan this morning showed that I have placenta pervia :( It means that the placenta is too low on my cervix and depending on the situation, it can be high-risk and means that I will have severe bleeding during labour and it could be life-threatening to me and Nugget. SAD!!

I even went to another doctor for a second opinion but she said the same thing. Basically, there are 3 stages - marginal, partial and total. Total placenta pervia is the worst case which means there is very little chance of it lifting up and correcting itself, and that's where I am almost at. I also now have a 1 in 10 chance of getting placenta accrete, where the placenta is implanted too deeply and does not separate easily at delivery. So the risks are that if I start bleeding I might need a blood transfusion and hysterectomy, have to deliver a premature baby, or die. Boo. For those with partial and marginal, most will correct itself and only 10% stay that way. But for me, there's very little chance.

Whatever it is, I can't have a natural birth anymore, which I'm gutted about cos I was really keen to give it a shot without an epidural. I'm praying that it might change so I still can, but its most likely that I will have to get an elective c-section.

The saddest news is that I can't go to Santorini next month anymore. I'm so depressed!! I was looking forward to that so much, got my new clothes and maternity swimwear, sunhats and everything *cry*... UNLESS the situation corrects itself soon (unlikely), we will have to cancel all our pre-booked flights and probably lose a lot of money too. Also if it's still like this I will have to be put on bed rest. NOOOO!!!! But all of that doesn't matter - the thing that worries me the most is that I can't carry the baby to full term and there are so many complications with premature delivery. Our pastor's baby was preterm and only lived for 3 months... *tear*

The good news is that the scan showed a completely healthy Nugget, oblivious to all of this. In fact, he started kicking from 18weeks and is so active - I can feel him turning and punching all day long. It's strange cos my other friend who is further along hasn't felt much, but I must just have a really active boy. Also according to the nurse, I am thinner so I am more sensitive to the movements.

Which totally goes against what the Dr said cos he told me I'm gaining too much weight *hides* and he's put me on a low-carb diet thing (pfft). I'm not supposed to eat sweet stuff either but as if that's gonna happen - Ange & I have been having different desserts every day and last night she baked me red velvet & cream cheese cupcakes - YUM!! But now that I already have a complication, I don't wanna get gestational diabetes on top of it so maybe I should be more careful...

I'm still going to Taiwan tomorrow cos I think a short flight shouldn't be too bad. I know other people in this situation get all upset and depressed (I read forums about it and they make it so terrifying) but I believe that God is going to take care of me, so I'm gonna just do it.

Please pray for me & Nugget everyone!! I was so worried today that I didn't even take the scan of Nugget from the clinic so I have nothing to show.

I'm also not really supposed to exercise, have sex, or lift anything. Hope I'll be alright traveling tomorrow cos Steve is not joining me there til Fri.

Online sites all say different things, but when it's a total placenta pervia it always says the same :( Here's some info on placenta pervia from babycenter.

xxoo

Oh, theres the doodle!

See it? It's where the arrow is... I just realised the last picture I put up had no penis in it haha!!

Btw, after watching Inception this weekend I had another dream about the epidural not working and now I have that SEED of an IDEA firmly planted in my head and it's completely freaking me out!!! (As an aside, isn't Ellen Page brilliant, and if you like sociological readings then this deconstruction of the film is my fave). Anyway, I've been convinced that I will have a super long labour and go through an unbelievable amount of pain and it's totally scaring the daylights outta me. Steve actually had a conversation with the doctor (unbeknownst to me at the time) about getting an elective c-section, cos he's worried I wont be able to handle the birth. Nooooo~~!!!! I really want a natural birth! :*(

Eating 500W ribs @ Sam Ryans... its a pub so I had to have my Hello Kitty face mask on to protect Nugget from the smoke:

Ribs. They are 50c each on Tuesdays LOL although I prefer the 30c wings @ another pub (and Emo Ems would agree)...

Boobies and bad roots:

And.... OMG NO ROOTS in the next pic! Yup, I did it - but hey, it was with no ammonia dye so I'm sure it's fine, and fabulous hairdresser was super careful. Can't be ugly with bad hair, uh uh, Nugget disapproves. As you can see, my favorite couple are BACK and look how great they look! They both lost soooo much weight from dengue fever when they were living in the Thai jungle with these Burmese orphans.

I wish I could get dengue fever too, what a great way to be ano. Oh, and they are going back to the orphanage to look after the kids next year - so amazing of them! I wish I could do that one day, but I have always said to Steve that we should definitely adopt after we have had all our own biological children. Especially if God forbid I end up having 3 boys like Victoria Beckham. Then I'm adopting a girl for sures.

Apparently swimming is the best form of exercise for preggie mummies, so yesterday we tried to find a pool near our place. On the internet, it said there was one up the road from our place in Hangang Park, so we packed our swimming stuff and excitedly went to find this nice outdoor pool....

That turned out to be...

THIS:

No joke. This was described as a pool.

I give up, I'll wait til Santornini. By then my maternity swimsuit would have arrived :D

We're spending a day at Doha as well. Will I have to wear a burqa? If I do, I wanna look like this:

xxoo