Pregnancy Report Week 30- Addendum

Trien doesn't like to go for her checkup before her scheduled appointment. The other day, she made some of her locally famous barbecue pork, and barbecued some fish. She ate a bit too much, and kept complaining about the pain, and couldn't get to sleep. That meant I couldn't sleep until I saw her sleeping, which made for another late night/early morning combo. By now, I am getting used to that. Besides, it makes good practice for when the baby is born. Then I am sure I will end up walking into work looking like a sleepwalking junkie. Still, I can't help myself, because my wife looks so cute when she's snoring and drooling all over her pillow.

For the past few days Trien has been complaining about pain in the upper left hand part of her abdomen, below her rib cage. She said sometimes the pain was sharp, and it hurt when she twisted. I thought maybe the baby was poking her with her toes. It was bothering her enough last night that she said she wanted to go to the doctor today (Saturday), three days early.

Saturday is not a good day to go to the doctor, and today proved it. People seemed to be coming in from everywhere, and we had to wait over an hour to see the doctor. I know, for those of you dealing with socialized medicine, or with the US health care system, that may seem like a dream to you. But this is a private clinic in Malaysia, and we aren't used to waiting more than a half hour.

There were even a couple of people who came in after us, that got to see the doctor before us. That was ok, as it was getting awfully close to quitting time. In that case, I rather be the last ones, because then the doctor will be more relaxed, and not in a hurry to get us out the door. (This is Malaysia, remember that.) Besides, Dr. Jeya and her nurse always enjoy our visits, because we (or usually me, playing the anxious father to be) are always good for a few laughs.

We didn't disappoint them in this respect today. I had them busting out in laughter a couple times. The sleep deprived, nervous, overprotective Daddy came out with a couple of howlers. They caused Dr. Jeya to say, "Pregnancy is usually harder on the fathers than the mothers".

As for Trien's pain, Dr. Jeya asked her a few questions, like where is the pain, is it shooting, etc., checked her out on the sonogram, and came up with a diagnosis: gas. Again I am losing sleep over gas pains. I think maybe Trien and I should compare who has more gas, and have a winner take all farting contest. The prize will be a lifetime supply of Alka-Seltzer. No question about it, I will win going away. I fart more than her anyway. Or maybe she's just trying to be lady-like, and hide it, while I go tooting around like an incontinent Viking.

The solution for Trien's pain? Ginger tea, my favorite home remedy for gas.

As for the baby, she is bigger than we thought, about two kilos. Everything looks good. She is still upside down, with her face turned to mommy's spine. And she is still a girl, which is great news. We've only bought girls clothes, mostly in pink, and only thought of girls names for our baby. I would hate now to have a son, and have to name him Angelica, or Melody, and dress him in pink for the first six months of his life. If that were to happen, we're talking major gender role confusion, psychological damage, and him appearing on Oprah in twenty years to tell his story.

Trien has gained 3 kilos since her last visit, but it seems to be all baby weight. It looks like she is right, that she will gain about twenty kilos. Right now she weighs in at an astounding 63 kilos (138.6 pounds), 13 kilos (28.6 pounds) heavier than when she started.

So all is well. No need to panic.

Someone please pass me the Valium!