The Bub in the Belly

Thank you all so very much for all the wonderful comments on the video and all the sweet congratulatory messages on the pregnancy! Most of our friends and family chimed in over Facebook and my mobile, and it was truly heartwarming to feel so much love.

Up till the video announcement, only our families, my colleagues (not Richard's) and a few of our friends were in the know. Most of the people who know didn't even hear it from us, they got the news from others and some people weren't sure enough to congratulate us.

I know we're sharing the news pretty late - I thought of a video announcement many months ago but dragged my feet thinking of the concept, the scenes and the music, etc. When I got to my third trimester, I actually wanted to ditch the whole idea because I thought my tummy was good enough an advertisement for the pregnancy. However, after I lunched with good friends over two separate occasions and they didn't notice a thing despite me being 7 months pregnant, I decided, let's go for it! So I told Richard about the idea and together we conceptualised the "storyboard", sourced the music, shot the scenes and did the post-production. Shooting was the hardest because it was not easy finding the time for it! Life imposed and intervened - work, family time, gatherings with friends, and lots of travelling. Our video camera went kaput before we even started and we had to buy a new one. Also, having absolutely zero professional equipment, we could only film during the day and only when we could find good natural light.

Everything in the video was specially set up for it - we haven't actually made any preparations for the baby yet! The toys are Ryan's and mine. The baby clothes are Ryan's and I cleared out my clothes from one of my drawers just for the shot. The baby monitor is our old one from Ryan's infant days. The booties that you see me sewing were intended for a friend of mine (which didn't turn out as nicely as I'd hoped so I kept them). The pregnancy test was not the "original" one that I peed on. The pink dress that I wore is not a maternity dress - in any event, it was a godsend as my tummy didn't look big enough for a really lovely pregnancy shot but, swinging about in that dress, I could make myself look 9 months pregnant! (You can see me in the same dress in the last photo in this post which was taken about two weeks ago.)

I'll share more about the pregnancy in the next few weeks. Till now, there hasn't been much going on with the pregnancy. Everything has been smooth sailing, thanks be to God! No cravings, no raging hormones, no issues at all. I even told my gynae that I was having a boring pregnancy! Nevertheless, we are now slowly turning our focus onto the various issues that accompany a new addition to the family, so there have been some interesting issues about pregnancy/baby/sibling that I have been thinking about, which I will pen down off and on in the coming weeks.

While the pregnancy has been uneventful, life still goes on! I still go into the office, I still drive, I still carry Ryan around, I still cook, I still do housework, I still meet up with friends, I still take photos, I still sew and spend time on my hobbies and crafts. I go about my day as I always have. Pregnancy is not a disability!