of uuhs and urghs...

Nothing fails to irk me more than the unsolicited guesses by almost every other person on the gender of my unborn baby. a typical exchange goes like this:

(Meet with stranger for the first time in a company-sponsored computer course. Strike up conversation with stranger during coffee break)

Stranger: So when are you due?
Me: July, looking rather ripe for a 5 mth old huh.. (i managed a little self-effacing laugh)
Stranger: Yeah, you're quite big for a 5 mth old, it's gotta be a boy
Me: Oh i don't know...
Stranger: You don't want to know?
Me: Oh no, i just haven't gone for the scan yet. Anyway, it doesn't really matter since it's my first.
Stranger: It's definitely going to be a boy. i can tell. i've had 2, i should know
Me: Oh yeah? (like i care) how so?
Stranger: Cos your tummy is sharp, low and you haven't got much meat on the side of your hips.
(I've put on 7kg in my first trimester which has almost entirely gone to my hips for goodness sake!!!)
Me: Well, i don't really buy into such housewives' tales actually...
Stranger: (Defensively) Absolutely not! when i was pregnant with my boys, i knew before i'd even scanned, and i'm right! Both times over!
Me: (Patronisingly) Oh wow...
Stranger: Yes, i was just like you. Big swollen nose, haggard eyes, sallow skin... (argh! and she simply has to pile on the insults?!) it's the hormones you know.
Me: Oh, think the class starting soon, better go grab myself a coffee first. Nice chatting with ya!
Stranger: (voice trailing in the background) Aiyah, how can you still be drinking coffee............

No Coffee?! Now, don't even get me started there...

Thrills and spills

Here's my personal list of the pros and cons of having a baby so soon into a marriage:

Pros
1. Hubby is pleased that the world views him as a premium sperm-producing stud.
2. The gob-smacked expressions of the people around you as you break the news to them just when they enquire if you'd developed your wedding pictures yet.
3. You get to 'recover' the ang-pow monies in the soonest time possible come Chinese New Year.
4. You can attribute turning up late for work and why you hadn't even started on that project that was due 3 months ago to an excessively intolerable bout of morning sickness.
5. You can finally stop walking around like you've got a grenade stuck up your a#@ and let it all hang out. 'Well, i suppose i'm just one of those who shows really early' you reply indignantly when they enquire about your big tum tum.
6. For the first time, you develop a cleavage!!! (that is enough reason to want to get knocked up fast.)
7. You can make hubby do all the housework while you watch telly and eat ice-cream because its hard work enough having his baby.
10. You have the perfect excuse to launch into a no-holds barred shopping frenzy.

Cons
1. Everyone else is bitching behind your back that you two have absolutely no self control and "there was definitely a bulge under her dress on their wedding day!"
2. You lose that gorgeous sexy figure that you dieted so hard for just to fit into the wedding dress almost as soon as the wedding ends.
3. You haven't even settled the credit card bills for the special floral arrangement that you ordered for your wedding reception and now you got to start buying bottle sterilizers from toddlers' paradise.
4. Suddenly you realise you can't run after a cab, jump across the drain to get to the other side, skip when your boss gives you a raise, lie anything but sideways when you sleep, etc...
5. Giving up some of your favourite indulgences like your montly massages, soft-boiled egg with your kopi and kaya toast at yakun, once-weekly drinking sessions with your galpals, sigh...

"So fast?! Shotgun ah?"

These were the very words my own biological sister said to me when i broke the news of my pregnancy. She had just verbalised what had probably crossed many others' minds when they'd found out. For you see, moi et mon mari have only been married since september and im already into my 20th week of pregnancy.

Most people seem to find the idea of having a honeymoon baby highly incredible, as if its some great improbability or stroke of (mis)fortune, much like scoring a hole-in-one. While my husband would gladly claim all credit to his self-proclaimed superior virility, i think the explanation is far simpler. It was boredom.

Maldives, ahhh... clear blue skies, white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters with the most diverse of marine life, windy days and picturesque sunsets. it didn't earn its accolades for nothing. However, other than some very non-exciting water activities and an even less exciting choice of f&b outlets, the islands have very little to offer. For although we were residing in the Banyan Tree, the villas are not equipped any television or very much contact with the outside world. Which is why, as you can see, there weren't many other options for us to while away our time.

So yes, i would highly recommend the Maldives to any couples who are planning to conceive a little bundle of joy during their honeymoon!

Why blog?

This is my debut entry. My sophomore attempt at blogging. I know almost nothing about this virtual diary thingy that's taken the wired world by storm, although for someone who had always resisted all other seemingly faddish online trends such as friendster, icq and msn, there is a certain appeal to blogging. And so i succumbed... after months of deliberation. Here are my reasons:

1. I'm pregnant! (hence the name) and i suppose like all first-time mums-to-be, i'd like a channel where i can express and share my various emotions and experiences.
2. Let's face it, there's an exhibitionistic streak in all of us, and blogging actually allows us to reveal only what we're comfortable with, minus all the sick, perverse bits!
3. I've always aspired to become a writer one day, and while that remains to be materialised, my always encouraging hubby suggested i start off with a blog, just to get warmed up enough to perhaps one day get my fat ass off the couch and actually start writing

so there, enough reasons to continue pursuing this trivial pursuit? or will i simply slump back into the couch in front of the telly in no time? hmm..