I'm a full-time mummy

Wow... I can't believe it! We are cruising into the 7th month of my pregnancy now! Updates for this month since my previous status updates in pregnancy at month 6 are as follow:

#1: This baby is STILL a wee bit SPICY BABY, but hey, mummy's snacking on sweet stuff too!

I'm still wolfing down spicy food at month number 7 though lately I've more and more been eating more  sweet stuff... like chocolates, cakes, doughnuts and stuff... yup.. CHOCOLATES definitely! Just can't seem to have enough of it! Especially this chocolate layered bun with choc cream filling:

#2: Weight Gain

I have gained yet another 1.9 extra kg for this month, making it to 53.9kg now. Oh crap, crap, crap. My gynae already mentioned the 3kg gain during my last month visit.. and I'm adding almost 2kg this month... gulp!! Anyway, gynae said weight gain is normal, to continue eating like normal... phew...

#3: Gynae check-ups

During this round of check-up, we tried out the 4D ultrasound machine again and still, I am not able to see with my own eyes the gender of Spicy Baby. Can you believe it?! 7 months already and we still can't see the gender!!!

He or she is always on his/her sides and closing legs... what is there to see? So ladies and gentlemen... gender = still unknown yet... Btw, Spicy Baby's weight is now over 1kg few grams already.

#4: Breastfeeding during pregnancy

Yup, my breastmilk production has been reduced to nothing from 5th month. But Ben is still dry suckling from me, and I can tell he's doing so for comfort nursing  as he only suckles me when he's about to go for his daytime nap and bedtime at night (each time around 10 minutes to half hour duration - depending how playful he is)

Again, I hope that we can go for tandem nursing when the baby is born and I hope that I could make tandem nursing works!

(*** NEW!) #5: Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT)

New thing to report this month! I finally had to take the GT test after being able to avoid it when I was pregnant with Ben. Apparently this test is to be taken at 7th month pregnancy, especially if you have family history of having diabetes. Both my parents had them and my mum passed away due to total kidney failure caused by diabetes.

We were seeing a private gynae right up until my 7th month when I was carrying Ben and we didn't take the test but this time, we are consulting under a semi private hospital and our gynae told us that I MUST take the test due to my family history.

So, the night before the test, I started fasting from 9pm, taking only plain water and nothing else, and waited till the next morning 9am to have my blood test (just a little prick on my finger) and was given this  300ml glucose solution to drink.

I almost felt guilty drinking it as it tasted exactly like soft drinks, kinda like having soft drinks for my breakfast! But then I was too hungry to complain anyway!

Result: My blood sugar level before the taking the drink is 4.6 (anything below 6 is normal) and after 2 hrs (only take plain water) is 6.3 (normal reading is between 6.1 to 7). Yeay! Passed!

(*** NEW!) #6: My expanding rear end?!

Another new thing to note, I have just heard a remark from my MIL that she noticed my rear end is getting bigger! Yikes! I'm feeling rear-end conscious now!

So there you go, updates as at 7 months pregnancy... and I'll be scheduled for fortnightly gynae check-ups from now on... Have a blessed week and thank you for reading!

Continuing on with Ben's meals for June 13th to 19th...

13 June
Breakfast - Cornflakes
Lunch - Some of my choc cake
Dinner - Alphabet spaghetti with cream sauce
Supper - 4 piece of crackers

14 June
Breakfast - Oats, grapes, cornflakes, vitagen
Lunch - 2 egg tarts
Tea - A small slice of pandan chiffon roll cake
Dinner - Rice 1 bowl, chicken, eggs
Supper - Strawberry milk

15 June
Breakfast - Oats, grapes, cornflakes, vitagen
Lunch - 2 slice of cheese, yogurt, 1 bowl of chicken rice
Tea - 1 egg tart, crackers
Dinner - Rice, steamed egg
Supper - Crackers, a cup of soy milk

16 June
Breakfast - Oats, grapes, cornflakes, vitagen
Lunch - Pastry puff with kaya n butter
Tea - Crackers
Dinner - Rice with fried chicken, a Wondermilk cupcake
Supper - papaya

17 June
Breakfast - Oats, cornflakes, soy milk
Lunch - My fried noodle & egg, Vitagen, soymilk, choc crackers
Dinner - Oats, cornflakes, papaya
Supper - a Wondermilk cupcake

18 June
Breakfast - Half portion of Alphabet pasta with cheese, half cheese omelette, Vitagen
Lunch - half char siew pork bun, apple juice diluted
Dinner - A bowl of rice with soup and carrots slices

19 June
Breakfast - Cheese omelette
Lunch - A slice of roll cake, some rice with soup and carrots slices
Tea - Alphabet pasta with cream sauce, a Vitagen
Dinner - Chicken claypot rice and soup, Konnyaku jelly

And here are some of the pictures taken on Ben's meals for the week (yeah, I'm getting lazier again... whoopss..)

I cut 2 slices of pastry puffs into 4 squares each, dab on some kaya and butter and baked them for 10 minutes. Ben finished it!

Diluted Ribena with rice and chicken (cooked by my MIL)

Ben having his 1st Wondermilk cupcake! Yumyum!

Ben's typical and favorite breakfast! Organic oats topped with cornflakes!

I fried some noodles and an egg. Ben loved it too!

I was so excited to be able to review this app on my iPad! Last year, I had the chance to review the picture book and to be able to review the same book in ebook and interactive version now? Whoaaa... love it! I was already a happy mum when we reviewed the printed book as Ben showed some signs of readiness in approaching the potty. Prior to that Ben would not even go near a potty and prefer to continue using his diapers.

* Title: Once Upon a Potty: Boy
* Price: $2.99
* Category: Books
* Updated: May 31, 2011
* Current Version: 1.08
* Size: 19.5 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
* Extra Info: The first in a licensing partnership with child matters media and renowned author and illustrator Alona Frankel, Once Upon a Potty picture books, audio editions and videos have sold more than 5 million copies in the US alone and have been translated into many languages, Publisher’s Weekly repeatedly listed them as #1 (Boy) and #3 (Girl) in its all-time bestselling hardcover childcare charts. 

Description from the product page:

"For decades, Alona Frankel’s toilet learning classics have been helping parents and children conquer the developmental leap from diaper to potty. Narrated by his mother's voice, Joshua learns about different body parts and functions, and figures out what the potty is (and isn't) used for. This patient, loving and humorous Boy edition encourages children to learn through play and empowers parents and caregivers of all ages. Follow Joshua through his stages of discovery, and enjoy the many delightful hidden audio surprises throughout the story. Discover what millions of book and video lovers already know: "Once Upon a Potty" is "...one small step for mankind, but a giant one for your family."

Special features only available in this omBook include vibrant original artwork, picture/word association, text and song lyric highlighting, professional audio narration, fun sound effects, and a scene-by-scene original music score. Three reading modes include Read It Myself, Read To Me, and Auto Play. Plus, two fun new music modes, The Potty Song and Sing-Along, allow young children and their caregivers to sing the jazzy tune themselves or follow the recorded performers."

Pictures below taken of Ben when we tried the app:

Ben was surprised to see the book on mummy's iPad and kept on pointing to the boy on the screen and telling me 'Boy! Potty!'

What's good?

* Everything remains the same as per the printed book version, though there is the additional potty song in the app version now!

* I love the app! It is engaging and interactive and I love that we can also touch the objects in each page on the screen and the words pop out to tell you what it is!

What's not so good?

* The potty song is not so clear and even though I have set the volume to the max, I still can't hear the words clearly.

You can purchase the "Once Upon a Potty: Boy" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"