Yoga with the hubby

It was fun to have WW with me in yoga class today! Apart from the yoga course we attended 10 years ago, he has not been practising yoga. So you can imagine how strenuous a workout he had today! I'm guessing he must had been super relieved to move into corpse pose towards the end of the class..enjoying his favourite resting pose.

There is bound to be a pose (or two) that one can't execute confidently in a class. Today, mine was the Wheel Pose. This pose is also known as Chakrasana or Upward-Facing Bow pose.

 

The Wheel Pose is an advanced backward bending pose that strengthens the arms, shoulders, wrists, legs, buttock, abdomen and spine. I find this pose hard to get into, as it requires some arm strength which I do not quite have. (Inclined flexed arm hang used to be my weakest item in the physical activity test during college times.) Just can't seem to get the strength to execute the final push to straighten my arms and to lift my body and head off the floor. Even after assuming the full pose with the teacher's assistance, I couldn't hold onto the pose for more than five seconds. Yet, I'd like to challenge myself to master this pose and to execute it with ease. Hope that I can share a photo of myself doing this pose (effortlessly) in the near future. A word of caution though - do not try this pose in case of back injury, heart problems, headache, diarrhoea or high/low blood pressure. Preparatory poses such as Cobra pose and bridge pose should be done before trying the Wheel pose.

Now that I've attended two Hatha yoga classes, should I move on to Hatha flow next week? Am I ready for what I think would be the more demanding yoga with those dynamic sequencing poses? Hmm..

I am BACK!

It's been a while. Not only a while actually. A good seven years!

The past seven years have been great, and greatly occupied with taking care of my two girls, now 3.5 and 6.5 years old. Now that the younger girl has started kindergarten, I've at last gotten some free time to myself. With that newfound freedom and time, I can start devoting time to pursue my interests again. What best than going back to practise yoga - an endeavour more than just an interest. Exercise, mental and physical balance and wellness, personal challenge, social circle - all rolled into one.

And so, I went for a trial Hatha Yoga class at Art of Yoga today.

Happy me preparing to go for my first yoga in 3 years

The studio offers a variety of yoga classes, ranging from restorative yoga to Ashtanga and advanced Vinyasa flow. I am looking to join Hatha yoga, Hatha flow and Vinyasa flow, having practised these yoga styles before. I thought Hatha yoga would be an easy, relaxing style compared to the others. But boy was I wrong. After the session today, my muscles are aching and sore. Could it be I have been out of action for too long? Or that age is catching up? Nevertheless, I'm more motivated to explore styles of yoga I have not tried before.

My initial thoughts are to populate this blog with my yoga journey. I'm planning to introduce yoga to my girls as well, not sure how receptive they are but wouldn't it be interesting to see cute little girls striking warrior poses or have a baby (my 3.5yo is still like a baby..) do a Happy Baby pose?

We'll see how the future updates go. Till then! 

Things the little one likes to do in my tummy

I'm now enjoying my days at home, carefree without work and simply waiting for the little one to come out into this world. It was our weekly check-up at TMC on Monday morning, followed by me doing net-surfing the entire afternoon. Tuesday was spent at Mama's place and also a little while at Tampines Mall where I went for a fringe cut and to stock up on some hair-loss prevention shampoo. Hopefully this will be useful in limiting the hair loss when the hormone pattern changes later. Yesterday I was writing a memo I owed my colleagues, and spent pretty much of the day doing pleasant little things like playing the piano and bringing Summer for a nice long walk.

At week 38 + 1 day now, baby Claire should be ready to come out and see the world. It now depends on her choice of date. WW and I hope she comes out earlier than the 10 November due date, preferably by next week. We then can spend more time with her before I return to work on the last day of February next year.

Wonder if BB Claire is enjoying the days spent at home instead of the office. She must be missing my colleagues' voices, but there are other sounds at home to make up for it - the planes flying overhead our house, Cash the German Shepherd barking away next door and the voices of gonggong and popo.

It's fun to observe the little actions of BB Claire now:

• Rolling around (somersaulting?) and making waves on my tummy
• Stretching out her hand or leg towards the right side of my tummy (she prefers the right to left side which results in me sleeping more on my right). Sometimes I thought I might be able to grasp her hand.
• Kicking (it didn't feel like a kick to me even though gynae said it was a kick) the scan equipment when gynae nudged her for a better positioning during the scan
• Tensing up, hardening the tummy when we are in those horrible taxi rides. Maybe it's Braxton Hick?

The little one has been good to me so far. Let's hope it goes all the way!

Preparing for baby Claire's arrival

Our study room has been set up with baby Claire's cot, and the computer has been shifted to a corner on the study table to give more space for placing other baby stuff. We have also bought a few rompers to last her till 6 months. Didn't buy a lot in case she outgrows them fast.

Baby cot in our study room

The chest of drawers containing baby Claire's stuff. But it's already kinda stuffed.

Shirts from Mothercare. Sweet colours of yellow, pink and orange

Rompers for her 3-6 months. Tks Stephie for the Carters sweet strawberry rompers and Peipei's little cardigan for BB.

Today is the start of my leave. No more work and I shall treasure this me-time before Baby Claire comes along!

5-7 weeks to go!

Another one month plus and Baby Claire will be out to see the world. Lots of things to prepare still, like packing my bag to bring to the hospital, and all the bathing and feeding necessities for the little one. Gonna do some shopping this weekend.

Baby Claire is in a breech position now and has been that way for the past week. Hope she guai guai goes head down nearer birth. Mummy wants no C-section! BB has been moving around quite a bit these days, kicking her little power kicks now and then, and mostly doing somersaults in my tummy. Looking forward to the times when we will see her and hug her.

Meanwhile I'll work till she's ready for the world, or till my legs can carry me.

Beaten by the crowds

WW and I are at ikea tampines now. He's in the long queue for food, while I just got seats after romping one whole round in the cafe. It is super packed in ikea on a Saturday! We wanted to beat the crowds, but think we got beaten instead. We are back today to buy the chest of drawers and its accompanying changing table top. Well, better to get it earlier else next time when tummy gets too big I won't be able to maneuver in the crowd.

Kudos to WW's patience. He used to hate queuing so much that he would go for food other than the famous ones in hawker centers. But these days he is able to stand the crowds and queues better, hugely due to the fact that I'm a preggie now. He'll need lots of patience with me, for having to shop a lot for BB now and that I need to visit the toilet much more frequently, and I have to walk slower now. Can see that WW is gonna be an extraordinary daddy. :)

Ok, I'm almost done with this blog, but poor WW is still not here yet. Hope the food comes soon!

All the Baby Buys!

Heading into the 3rd trimester now! The little one is gaining weight, and is possibly at around 1 kg now. These days I walk a little slower, as my legs are no longer that agile. It doesn't help that I've been missing out on my yoga and swimming for a whole month! May the cough go away soon.

Meanwhile, we spent more time walking around instead (walking is another good exercise for me preggie). We went to Taka baby fair twice over two weekends, the first to get the baby cot and the second time to buy the stroller. Gotta start stocking up on the necessities for our little girl. Before that, I've bought a Kate Spade baby bag to motivate myself to bring BB out more often.

I'm getting more easily tired these days and usually have to sleep by 1030 or latest 11pm. This explains the reduced blogging :( but I hope to update more often still with the little details of the preggie's life!