18 Weeks

Alhamdulillah.

18 weeks along now.

2 weeks ago, I saw my gynae and everything looked okay. The vomiting has not made an appearance in the past week or so. And that is great, great news. The aversion to plain water is still there so I'm taking diluted 100 plus. And whatever drinks the drink stall at school brews each day. I'm beginning to be able to tolerate rice more than before. So, I do eat rice on some occasions at school. I'm no longer depending on Stall Number 3's beehoon soto for survival. Just as well, because I think I may be developing a less-than-like for it.

What is the baby's gender?

All will be confirmed in Week 20 when I go for the next check-up. TheHusband and Daughters 1 & 2 are rooting for another girl. TheGrandparents presently have 19 grandchildren - 10 girls and 9 boys.   So, TheGrandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Nieces and Nephews are expecting this to be a boy. This is mostly because if this child turns out to be a boy, he will be The Great Equaliser. Me? I pray for a healthy child. Healthy in all senses of the word - physical, mental & spiritual. And , as always, to be a good Muslim. Which will cover all spheres of his/her life. Amin.

At school, more people are aware but it's not something I broadcast to all. I don't flaunt my growing tummy all that much, either. I try to hide my tummy as best as I can. Perhaps, it's because I don't want my pupils to ask me. But the more I wonder about this, the more I realise that I most probably am waiting for a truly safe period. Past a time when I know that the Baby will be able to survive if he/she happens to be delivered early. That will be around Week 30, I guess. It's just this awareness that there are multiple outcomes to a single event that seems to have a strong grip of you the older you get. And I'm already 36 this year. So, the older I get, the more conscious I become of these other unsavoury possibilities.

Occasionally, I feel movements in the womb but it is not something that happens frequently and with great regularity for now. There are also times when the womb area seems to hurt badly but a 5-minute rest normally puts everything back on track. Dr Google said that it's most likely that the uterus is expanding so much these days. When I contort my body in a certain way or slouch, I feel a sudden, sharp pain in the upper part of my stomach. Probably the growing womb has pushed the intestines in such a way that there are kinks there and so, having a proper posture is absolutely necessary these days.

So, that's the main update for now.

Til 19 April, when the gender will be confirmed. :D