21 weeks in and the bump is definitely taking shape. I'd like to say that someone offered me a seat on the MRT but this being Singapore and all, sadly not. (I swear a one-legged, blind, pregnant woman with a zimmer frame could get on the train here and everyone would remain rooted to their seats in the usual "I'm asleep, no really I am!" pose). Thanks to Suze for her suggestion though: "When I was pregnant I just went up to people and asked them if I could have a seat. They usually leapt up as though they had sat on a drawing pin!"
On Friday we had the 20 week scan and at last the baby is starting to look less like a little tadpole and more like a human being. Aside from the usual 2D scans, the hospital's whizzy scanner could also take a 3D shot, as you can see from the close-up of the head below. The baby appears to be scratching its head. Maybe it just didn't like being poked and prodded with the ultrasound machine.
Commonly in Singapore, parents want to know the sex of the baby. I have no doubt that the main driver for this is the Singaporean love of shopping and the rush to buy all things blue or pink. Well we want the element of surprise. I figure that after going through labour it will be nice to have something to look forward to - a bit like opening a Christmas present I suppose. Luckily the baby co-operated perfectly during the scan, revealing all the right bits for the sonographer to measure the main organs, but keeping its legs firmly crossed!
A thorough check and measurement of the baby's brain, heart, kidneys, stomach and various other bits showed that everything is looking okay. Better still, my placenta is no longer low-lying and even the fibroids are behaving themselves. That's not to say they have gone away but at least the big ones are out of the way at the top of the womb. (My biggest fear was having big fibroids blocking the way resulting in a C-section but the doc says that it doesn't look like this will be necessary).
The next scan is at 32 weeks. Meanwhile I have finally reached the stage in the pregnancy where I can sign up to "the package". It's quite common in Singapore to be able to sign up for a package of say 10 manicures or $300 worth of leg waxing, but this is a new one on me! For $700 I now get all my scans and checks included up until delivery (which the way I'm going is definitely a good deal!). And yes, that's right - delivery is extra....around $2,500-$6,000 depending on luxury of rooms and level of intervention. I have already spent $1000 on hospital appointments up to this point, so overall we could be looking at a total bill of $4-$8k - and this is one of the cheaper hospitals in Singapore. All I can say is it's a good job we've got medical insurance...
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