In the womb.

A random conversation with someone I look up to spurred me to write this entry.

This entry might come too late, but I feel its never too late to share experiences which might help others in future.

Approximately two years ago, I conceived my very first baby. My husband and I have been trying for a baby for a year prior, so the news of my being pregnant was happily accepted by the both of us.

The moment I saw the positive sign on the pregnancy test kit, I told myself, 'This is it. Motherhood begins now.' Many first time mothers think that motherhood only begins after the delivery of the baby, but I feel motherhood begins the moment there is a life developing in your womb. The moment we know we are responsible for the well-being of a life is when we have to start giving selflessly. Like many other first-time moms, I was quite overwhelmed with anxiety and became quite thirsty for knowledge, reading up book after book, magazine after magazine on pregnancy and motherhood. The more I read up, the more I learn that good baby development in the womb is very important as it will have implications which might affect the baby for the rest of his/her life. I tried to eat as well as I can, dunking in lots of milk and eating as much vegetables (I'm not a fan) as I can as I know these are good for the baby. I took on my mother's advise to walk as much as I can and not let the pregnancy be an excuse to laze around on the couch all day long.

Along with all these, I also kept my emotions in check. I always made sure I feel happy and surround myself with positive people. Although I do get upset at times due to raging hormones, I always tell myself never to wallow in it for too long. It doesn't help that my husband wasn't too responsive of my cravings, coz he believed I musn't be pampered to much, so I went all out on my own to satisfy my own cravings eg dragging my bestest colleagues all the way to Adam Road to get nasi lemak after night shift. And sure, living in fast-paced Singapore doesn't spare us of stress, thus we must find ways to curb our problems fast and not let it affect us too much. I see for myself cases where expecting moms worry endlessly too much, that their baby is adversely affected.

So in short, a good pregnancy doesn't only mean eating the best foods, but also keeping our emotions and stress levels low. We must put aside our negative emotions for the well-being of the life in our womb.

Needless to say, I gave birth to a small yet perfectly healthy baby at exactly 38 weeks of my gestation. Her birth was a smooth and progressive ten hours, with her jaundice levels so low, there wasn't any worry about it at all. As she reaches her one and a half year mark, she has proven to everyone that she's one bubbly little girl who's always smiling, even to strangers!

Just look at her cheeky smile in this family shot. ;)

And, here's wishing a happy 18 months to my one and only Qayla Arissa. Ayah and Ibu loves you too much.