was playing 3-leg mahjong with Mr Tan's aunt & grandma last evening.

if i knew they were playing real cash, i would have lost deliberately or something.

and i won Grandma Tan's $$$. what a fantastic granddaughter-in-law i am. GAWD.

by the way for those who didnt know yet (god knows why), im going to be a mom! =)

and 1 of the 1001 symptoms during pregnancy is forgetfulness,cos the hormonal changes actually reduces brain-cell volume. (!!!!!!!)

im indeed getting forgetful. sometimes i forgot im pregnant. -.-" 

occasionally i get too excited or something and start walking too fast. THEN i remembered. and i will dramatically slow down my pace. 

oh and i realised i havent been mentioning much here about my feelings of being a mum-to-be.

it's pretty complicated emotionally, and i guess you will not be able to fully understand it until you're a mom-to-be yourself (if you're a female species, of course). it was, and is, an emotional and physical roller-coaster ride for me. but im blessed to have my fabulous family and great friends who are always so concerned with my well-being. i couldnt ask for more, seriously!

but one thing that got me really upset, was the realisation that i have to give up most of my fave foods. beef sukiyaki, half-boiled eggs, salmon sashimi....... what do they have in common? they are all raw or partially raw. !@#$%^&

since some of you are very curious about what changes i experience while growing the little thing, i shall blog about them from time to time, with the help of the pregnancy books & websites that i refer to diligently. =)

first thing to note is, im going into Week 17, which is the end of the 4th month! woo, i just surprised myself. didnt even realise the 4th month is coming to an end.

ever since visiting the gynae, ive been downing supplement pills every single day. except days that i forgot. my brain-cell volume reduced, remember? the pills include iron + calcium + folic acid.

another thing is, ive been sleeping on my left, cos that is the position to allow max flow of blood & nutrients to the placenta. it gets really uncomfortable sometimes cos i tend to sleep on my back. =(

as for my tummy now, it's just a little bulging, like i just came out from an eat-all-you-can buffet. 

i've had 3 ultrascans for the little thing so far, and ive even heard its (gotta use 'it' for now, sorry ah) heartbeat. super-duper fast, as though it is very kan cheong. hahaha. its heartbeat is approximately 120-160 beats/min. that's about 50% faster than a normal adult! with every scan, i see it getting longer and fatter. =) it even looks totally different from the previous scan.

on the 1st scan, it is the size of a small green bean.

2nd scan, it is the size of 2 big green beans joined end-to-end.

and the 3rd scan, it is the size & shape of a peanut. yup, the one that goes down well with beer during a soccer game.

and preggy women can choose to go for the Down Syndrome test in about Week 14. BUT the accuracy is not really good and there are risks involved. the gynae's suggestion was that the test is unnecessary for me cos im still very young, as the occurrence increases steadily every year as a mom-to-be ages. so i gave the test a miss.

and here's a little bit on what the little one is like by Week 16. =)

it is capable of making facial expressions such as squinting & yawning. its skin is still translucent & wrinkly, and its veins are visible under the skin. its eyes have moved from the sides of the head to the front where they rightfully should be. yep, initially their eyes are at the sides!

alrights that's all i have for now. till then! =)