The little one is 35 weeks old in my womb now. My stomach is huge and the stretch marks can be seen. I still do not know its gender yet but the Filipina who gave me a pre-natal massage on Monday insisted that it is a boy. I asked her why and she said she has four boys herself and she knows how a mother expecting a boy looks like. Some elders have also indicated that it is very likely to be a boy but I guess we will only be sure of its gender when we hold it in our arms. Anyway, boy or girl, it does not really matter. What's most important is that it is healthy and that its delivery is smooth and God willing, it will not be our only child. At 35 weeks, I can still do some things like drive myself to work, cook, do light gardening, do some housework...etc. Due to my baby bump, I can't really pick things up from the floor these days. I can't do too much laundry or squat. People say I walk pretty fast for someone of my condition but i do experience shortness of breath each time I walk up the stairs at work. Some male colleagues have advised me to use the lift but I still use the stairs as a form of exercise. Of course I have to be extra cautious so that I do not fall.

I am still able to sleep reasonably well at night, my feet does not really swell but my fingers experience joints pain especially when I sleep. I feel warm most of the time and sweat a lot more than usual hence the increase in our laundry. I am seriously thinking of cutting my hair short yet I am worried that I would look terrible as I've always had difficulty managing my hair when it is short. But then again, i cannot stand having sweat dripping down my hair especially during the afternoons when the weather is warm.

We have started to shop for the baby's items but I have to admit that compared to others, we have not spent much. Being willing to accept hand me downs actually saves a lot of money. Our latest collection of hand me downs are an electric milk pump (from my cousin), a nursing pillow and a bottle of DOM (from Janice and Alvin), a baby hammock (from a BEC member), baby clothes (from Uncle Lim's Grandson), Baby cot, Napkins, Baptism clothes, CD's, Toys (from Shawn) and so on. We still need to shop for milk bottles and sterilizer, bathing tub, baby car seat (someone is also offering a hand me down) and a little bit of this and that.

Advent this year is indeed special for the both of us as we are literally waiting in anticipation for the birth if our own child. It would be even more interesting if the baby decides to come on Christmas day itself.

I'm moving towards the 8Th month of my pregnancy now. I'm growing in size the my wardrobe is getting limited. I'm not able to wear most of my clothes now. I went shopping a few weeks ago to increase my selection of clothes but unfortunately it was not fruitful due to two reasons. One being my unique body size (as always) and secondly the price. I don't know if the price of clothes is getting more expensive these days or maternity clothes are naturally more expensive than ordinary ones but i honestly feel that they are over priced. For example, I bought a pair of slacks for RM 90 after getting a 70% discount. Most maternity clothes are priced RM 80 and above. I wished I had a body frame which was ordinary like most people. I wish I could fit into all types of clothes so that I would not need to worry so much about not having suitable clothes to wear. I feel frustrated when I have to think of clothes. If one were to ask me about what I disliked about being pregnant, my appearance would definitely top the list. I dislike to look at myself in the mirror these days. I dislike my size and the way I dress. I look forward to delivery so that I can wear back my old clothes again and lose the extra pounds and feel good about myself again.

Other than my appearance, I think i ought to be grateful that my pregnancy has not given me much problem. I have been pretty healthy, did not need to see any doctors other than for my usual monthly check-up and on a whole, i think i have been eating pretty well (without indulging too much due to cravings). Of course I do experience the effects of pregnancy like tiredness and aches and pains but which expecting mother would not need to go through that? It is just part and parcel of being pregnant and i accept it.

Though we are eight months pregnant, I have to say both Leslie and myself are not fully ready for the child yet. Firstly, we have not found a confinement lady. Secondly, there's no permanent helper to help us yet. We are waiting for Sokha's replacement to come but I am not sure if she will arrive before the baby. Neighbors have been helpful but more in the aspect of offering advice. One neighbor gave me a few recipe's (really good ones) to be used during confinement. (She did not have any confinement lady when she delivered her children and actually looked after herself, hence she is pretty confident that I can do the same), another neighbor offered me phone numbers of confinement ladies but we opted not to consider them due to extravagant charges. So far, we have only bought 1 item for the baby which is a stroller and we hope to shop for more items during the upcoming baby fair in two weeks time. Having a baby is surely not cheap. We need to put aside a few thousands to prepare for its arrival.

Well I hope all will turn out fine and i pray that our little junior will be a healthy child and that we can like other families, grow in love, peace and harmony.