‘Bu’ Baby

‘Bu’ – a Chinese word that means ‘to nourish’.

I am so pleased with myself. I successfully brewed a nice pot of hashima at home! I was amazed at how a little pinch of the sweet smelling dehydrated lumps became large gelatinous gobs covering half the soup pot.

Hashima are secretions derived from a wood frog’s fallopian tubes. It sounds rather appalling, doesn’t it? Well, I’m Chinese after all so it takes quite lot more than eating genetalia and the like to scare me off. It is suppposed to be good for the complexion as well as the lungs. It is supposed to have many vitamins and minerals that are beneficial to the baby. Hashima is really quite tasteless on its own so even though the thought of its origin might make you squirm, you would probably find it easy to swallow.

So my dearest baby, I hope you’ll enjoy the benefits of hashima too!

Sugar Cravings

Oh me! Oh my! The dreaded pregnancy cravings have HIT me today!

I had a slow start to the day – only eating a bowl of tau huay slushed with tau huay jwee (that is, soya bean curd and soya bean drink) for breakfast at 11am. Well, that soon changed because at at 1pm, I decided to empty my entire purchase of Yong Tau Foo along with the remainder half-pack of udon into a pot of Knorr ikan-billis flavoured soup. After cooking, I promptly devoured every bit of the 10 Yong Tau Foo pieces and udon. That should have been enough, but of course it wasn’t. So I decided to walk down to Prima Deli across the road to redeem my $6 cake voucher. I very nearly gave in to my craving for chocolate fudge cake, but seeing that I should try to take better care of my cough, I opted for a pandan kaya fudge cake instead and a peach danish. Of course, the pandan kaya cake is not entirely good for me because it has egg and dairy ingredients which according to TCM does my cough no good. But well, better egg than chocolate that is probably heaty. That is, according to Sarah’s rationale anyways.

Upon reaching home, I cut myself a nice slice of pandan kaya and gobbled it up in a minute. I had wanted to attack the peach danish next, and down a cup of nice, fragrant Earl Grey Tea. The thoughts of sugar-overloading my system and contributing towards unsightly weight gain stopped me in time. And so this is why I’m blogging about this to try distract myself from my appetite monster. Distraction is supposed to help fight the cravings as does drinking lots of water…unfortunately, in my case neither seem to be working. Even as I am writing, this computer screen seems to be flashing a wallpaper of pandan kaya slices and plump peach danishes at me. Ahhhh!!!! Someone save me from sugar craving!

Blessing To Count

Yes, I may be hacking away for the past 3 weeks or so and I’ve finished an entire course of antibiotics and downed almost a bottle of anti-tussive. Yes, I may have just spent a significant $200 on Manuka Honey in a bid to get well. Yes, I have been praying and asking God to heal me but nothing in my physical condition seems to confirm a complete healing from the cough. BUT I think there is still plenty to thank God for for what He has done for me in my body.

So here I am trying to list all the physical blessings I have experienced. A reminder that God is Jehovah Rapha – my healer.

1. A safe 1st trimester for me and my baby: Spotting has stopped after an initial 2 weeks. Baby is growing well despite a very odd-shaped gestation sac. No need to continue taking hormone pills.
2. No more morning sickness.
3. No cravings or an unstoppable 2nd-trimester appetite.
4. Better skin with less breakouts.
5. Smoother skin on my formerly dry legs.
6. Better undisrupted sleep in this 2nd trimester compared to the 1st.
7. Throat is no longer sore and phlegm has reduced. At least I don’t have to get up in the middle of the night to gargle with salt water to ease the stinging pain in my throat!

There! Seven good reasons why God is good and God still heals me. As His word says that Jesus has borne ALL my sickness, sorrows and sins. Those who believe shall receive.

Thank you Jesus for what you have done for me and baby. Thank you for continuing to watch over us and ensuring the healthy development of every part of my baby!

What Being Pregnant Has Taught Me About God and Faith

Well, it has been a while since I posted anything. My last visit to the gynaecologist was on the 11th of February and the doctor’s report was great! The baby had grown to 23 mm, up from 8.7 mm two weeks before. The estimated due date has been pushed back by 2 days to 17 September, 2008. The arm and leg buds have started showing. I couldn’t figure out the heartbeat of the baby on the ultrasound scan but the gynae was ever so patient in explaining to me what the hazy shapes meant. In fact, the gynae seemed really happy that my baby was doing so well. I found her super chatty that day. I also found it so funny that she said that “you see, sometimes doctors really can’t do much to help a baby survive. What is important is that the genetic make-up of the baby is correct.” I was like “Huh? How come a doctor would say something like this?”

But of course, what she says is so true. Medical professions and advancements can do a lot to help improve the physiological state and well-being of the human race. However, they cannot control, ascertain nor guarantee the outcome of medical treatment nor the lifespan of individual. Only God can.

During the course of the last 5 weeks or so, since I discovered that I am with child, I have learnt so much more about the reality of life and its mystery. No matter how intelligent or how advanced technology gets, we cannot control life nor death. And as for health? Sure, we can take all the supplements or medications but they are still no gurantee for complete recovery or preservation of health. Being on the hormone pills to help support a healthy pregnancy, I am so aware of that the health of my baby is not dictated by these small white pills. No matter how well I eat or how much I rest, there is still no way I can personally ensure the healthy development of my baby. All that I do helps to boost the chances of the healthy development, but still it is not a guarantee. I cannot but I am so thankful that I have a Creator, a Covenant Friend and a Father who can.

He who spoke the universe into being. He who commands dry bones to live. He who raises the dead. He can.

And what is even more amazing is He has already made a personal promise to ensure that we will have life, and life abundantly, if we put our trust in Him. I had this discussion with a friend about what faith is. For me, faith is choosing to believe God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. Something I have also been learning about faith is that it speaks. Faith calls things that are not, as though they were (Romans 4:17). How powerful is that – to call things that have not come to pass as though they have. Faith is also believing against all hope, all natural circumstances. Why is it that without faith, it is impossible to please God, and not righteousness or holiness? Because I believe that faith makes one realise just how powerless we really are and only God is the omnipotent. Faith gives God the rightful glory and honour He is due.

However powerless we really are in ourselves, I am truly amazed to find that God has empowered us to live an overcoming life through Jesus and through the Holy Spirit whom He has placed in us. There is so much more to my God that I have known, and it is through this miracle of a baby that I am learning so much more about what it means to be entirely dependent on Him and Him alone.

That is perhaps why in John, Jesus says that He is the vine and we are the brances. If we abide in Him, then we will bear fruit. Just like a branch separated from the mother plant cannot have life and will soon dry up and die, I have no hope of bearing this baby fruit on my own.