Friday, January 13, 2017

Happiest way to end 2016 and start 2017

We are going to be parents!

I guess you can say we first suspected it when rie felt nauseous and vomited on the plane on our flight to BKK on 23rd December. Her period was not yet due then but conception typically occurs 1 week before next period (You can go read up more on all the timings related to conceiving a baby, i.e ovulation, implantation etc). We were not sure then as it was really still too early for detection but maybe you can say a mother's six sense is pretty accurate. Detection by pregnancy kit (detection of HCG) is most effective about 1 week after missing of period but some more sensitive ones can detect even a couple of days before missing of period.

So after this suspicion and us being anxious, we started to use the pregnancy strips after we got back from BKK. We started testing on 28th Dec, and as we bought a whole bunch of pregnancy strips online at very cheap prices, we used it every day, once in the morning and then once at night. HCG levels doubles around every 2 days, meaning 50% more every 12 hours. The double line indication was very very faint on the first try, but it seemed to get darker and darker each time, but still very faint and not counted as pregnant yet. We were not sure whether was it just us or if it meant something. I guess we were just too anxious. haha. On the 30th night, we got a double line which looked much more convincing and it felt like a positive to us.

Now that it is more convincing, though still not very very certain, we decided to do the test again the next day morning, 31st Dec morning, with a pregnancy kit we bought from Watsons to double check. I know by now we sound very kiasu and ganchiong spider; we could have waited for a week to get a better result if any. So we woke up on the 31st Dec morning and were again very anxious to take the urine test. The result was as shown in the picture below.

   
Watson Pregnancy Test Result 

It clearly showed 2 lines even though the 2nd was light, but clearly visible and according to the usage instructions it is a positive. Our joy was building after this result, but me being me, liked things to be absolute certain hence I was still trying to be reserved about it. We cannot forget this day, 31st Dec as it was the last day of the year 2016. The best thing to happen in 2016 had to wait till the last day; good things must wait. If confirmed, this would be the best thing to happen to us in 2016 and the most important thing we wished for in 2016 realized.

We welcomed year 2017 with joy and excitement. The first thing we did was to book an appointment with a gynae to confirm our joy. On the first working day of 2017, Tuesday 3rd Jan, I called up Edinburgh Clinic at Choa Chu Kang to schedule an appointment with Dr Chia Yee Tien. To our delight, we managed to book an appointment for that week Friday, 6th Jan in the evening 630pm. To put it simply, there are a few reasons we chose to schedule an appointment with Dr Chia; she consults at a clinic in Choa Chu Kang too which is near our house, she consults at night which means we do not have to take leave to go, She was a female (rie was not sure if she prefers a female or male gynae yet so we chose a female one first), and she had many positive reviews online.

The next few days we continued to test with pregnancy kit from different brands. Now all kits showed double lines and its getting darker by the day. We even "spent a bomb" (very expensive relative to the strips) and went to get a digital one from Clearblue, as we read that it is supposedly the best and most accurate pregnancy test on the market. Every test turned out positive and we can be 99% sure now, just need the visit to the gynae to 100% confirm with ultrasound.

   
Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test Result

   
All the test kits we used

Friday came in a flash. For the few days waiting to visit the gynae, I experienced a feeling I never felt before, a mixture of joy, anticipation, anxiety, pressure and lots of different scenarios playing out in my mind. I guess one may only get to experience it when they become a father to be. During these days I also did a lot of read up on early pregnancy, about the dos and don’ts, like what food to eat or not, what things to do to not and too many information for me to sum it up here. As a first time father to be, the worry is damn real. Maybe it’s just me, different people will feel differently but this was how I felt.

The visit to Dr Chia Yee Tien was very pleasant. She was very patient when she spoke with us. After getting a few information from us, she started with the ultrasound and it was the first time we saw rieby, as we affectionately calls it. Rieby was still an embryo looking like just a tiny bean on the ultrasound screen. It was very small but definitely there and positioned properly in the womb. Rieby was dated to be 5 weeks old and did not show a heartbeat yet. We will have to wait for the next visit at week 7 to see the heartbeat. They counted the weeks starting from the 1st day of the last period hence 5 weeks; don’t ask me why but that’s just how they date. Now even though it is 100% confirmed, it does not end here, there will be so much more to come; the long 9 months journey had only just began. At least we can store away the pregnancy kits for some time now.

   
First look at Rieby 

So yeah! again. We are going to be parents!

Friday, January 6, 2017

Rieby!!!

We going to have a baby!

Saturday, March 1, 2014

February Progress & the finale weigh in and result

9 months had passed since the day I made up my mind to get in shape and have a better body. 9 months was long, but yet short at the same time. Nonetheless it's been a really fulfilling journey, one where I get to know myself better, one where I test my determination once again at a ripe age of 32. I guess you can say I am relieved that this is over and yet at the same time looking forward to build on my success now. I still believed that there is more inside of me that I had not given yet. When I see through the pictures that I had took, a tear almost dropped from my eye. Alright I think I am really at a loss of words now and emotions running high now; let's just say no more and look at the pictures.

Finally! The final product of my 9 months of hardwork. Still lot's to be improved though.


All 10 photos put into a collage just like the way my idol did it.


My idol. Though I still do not know who he is, but his photos are truely my inspiration.


Our collages put together to compare. I think I did a great job imitating his poses right?


Our final poses side by side. Got the same "seh" right? lol. Hopefully my body can pass like his.


Alright, let's recap how the fatty me looked like 9 months ago (almost vomitted. haha)


Side by side look at myself before and after. I lost 17lbs.


Yup I guess this is it, the end of the story. Looking at this final before, after picture really brought tears to my eyes. I had never look so good since like 10 years ago. On a side note, I completely forgot to talk about my result for the final month. In the last month I actually managed to gain about 6 kg. A round of applause to myself. I set out to gain about 5 kg and I did it. Out of this 6 kg, about 4 kg are pure muscle mass as calculated by my weighing scale. 

Alright, this is actually not the end, but the start of a new journey for myself. Now is the time to build on it and achieve even better results. I will continue to post some of my pictures and stories here along the way. Do look out for them if you are interested. I love myself. Huat ah~!~! 

Saturday, February 1, 2014

January Progress

January had passes and I now weigh 74.3kg. Yes it was only less than 1 kg of gain from last month. Probably I was so used to eating less that I do not have the appetite to eat more, but I shall not give up and continue to work hard. At the beginning of my weight loss phase was also slow. Gaining weight was indeed as hard as losing weight; you need the mental discipline to force yourself to eat over your daily caloric expenditure.

I started going to the gym again, at least once a week for now as this period I am super busy with NTU IHCC with Vikings. I am afraid that I will gain but too much fats once I start bulking hence I also continued to run a little. I started to eat more, but cleanly. For a chicken skin lover, having to remove the skin when I eat chicken chop was really painful. I ate alot of clean breast meat this whole month.


Don't really like this angle, but that's the angle my idol used so gotta follow

8 months done, let's go for the final month now.


Definitely a big difference coming such a long way

To help me achieve my goals of bulking up now, putting on more lean muscles, I did some research and read about how people gain weight. I searched on how to gain 10kg of muscles in 2 months, as I believed that if I can lose over 10 kg in 2 months, I for sure am able to gain more than 10 kg in 2 months too. The research I done recommended me to take in 500 calories more than my daily requirement in order to gain mass. Of course this has to come with hard gymming too.

As said earlier, I still run because I am afraid of gaining too much fats while bulking, but in the end I only gain less than 1 kg. Therefore for the next month, I am going to cut down on all cardio and just focus purely on strength training. I will also just eat whatever I want now (excuse for not removing my chicken skin). I guess eating too clean is really very hard to put in the sufficient calories into your body without feeling like exploding. I am now also starting to take protein shake and creatine to help boost my training and muscle recovery. Hopefully with all these, I will be able to gain at least 5 kg in the next month. I will also continue my regular sun tanning as it really helps with my skin tone.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

December Progress

Each month I am seeing progress for my body. December is again a month of celebration, which makes it hard for me to maintain my diet plan, but I still managed to pull through. Currently I weigh 73.9kg, close to another kg lost since 1st December.

For December I basically stuck to the same routine of dieting, and increase my intensity of body weight workouts such as push ups and sit ups. More definition in my muscles can be seen compared to 1 month ago. I also did regular tanning every Sunday which helps improve on my looks.

Darker skin to compliment

7 months had passed since 1st June.

Felt really happy looking at my improvements over the months

For January, I will start off the New Year by going to the gym more, on a more consistent basis. Time to also start gaining some mass back. I will still need those mass, muscles and strength for stunting. Looking to increase a kg or 2 by February.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

November Progress

It's been 6 months now. Last month I said I was in the best shape of my life, and this month again I improved on that. Let's hope I create new "best shape" every single month and keep improving on my body. I had my photo shoot last month and was very happy with the pictures I took. My first goal of looking slimmer for my photoshoot had been achieved.

My weight is now about 74kg plus, close to 75kg. I have to admit that in the month of November right after my photoshoot, I had been giving myself some slack. I was like a reward to myself for having achieved good results. Together with other celebrations such as my birthday, November became sort of like a "cheat month". Yes end of the day I still did managed to shave off 500g for my weigh in, but overall fitness goals were not met. I did not run 2.4 in 12 mins nor did I managed 26 pull ups. Yes I was dissapointed but I guess the break was required for me to recharge mentally.


6 pacs becoming more obvious

From the 1st month to now.


Time to build back those muscles.

Alright November was a "cheat month" hence I shall try to make up for it in December. I shall not set fitness goals such as 2.4 timing or number of pull ups first. I do not want to stress myself out. I will also reduce running so that I can focus on (clean) bulking up again. Let's hope I can make more improvements in December despite it being a festive month too. Jiayou.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Starry's 31st Birthday =)

Happy Birthday my dear Starry! Woohoohoo =)

31 lo! Getting fitter as you aged... Six pacs popping out lo... Jiayou! =)

Happy 31st Smarty Starry! =)

Bought a sunflower for Starry =)





Starry looking confident on elevator =)

Starry is so happy being a flyer =)