There are only a few sites I visit that I would absolutely recommend to every expectant moms and the already-mommies. I found these web sites when I was expecting Eric, and have been using the information in these sites ever since.

Although nothing could prepare you emotionally and physically for the actual thing, doing some reading might help you to mentally prepare and expect fewer surprises. Also, take all the advice and knowledge you gained with a grain of salt. Always, if in doubt, consult your doctor. He or she will be more than happy to help you.

BabyCenter.com and its sister site, ParentsCenter.com. I have been a faithful subscriber of its newsletter since 2001. I wish I had used the info in this site earlier. The site is much more understanding when it comes to breastfeeding and doesn’t leave you feeling guilty if you are one of those people who can’t breastfeed successfully, like me. I love the personalized info and weekly e-mails on the progress of your pregnancy as well as some parenting tips.

ParentsPlace.com. An iVillage sub-site, what I liked most about this site is the Q&A column on a wide variety of subjects related to pregnancy and parenthood. This site is very much pro-breastfeeding, though, so much so that it could leave those who couldn’t breastfeed well (like myself) feeling depressed.

Oxygen.com. A wonderful site for women. The chat rooms and forums are especially useful, so do go ahead and find a support group for pregnancy or for advice on baby care and breastfeeding. The chat groups are very supportive groups and helped me go through my first weeks of postpartum while I was home-bound.

Due to my husband’s insistence on having similar names for our children, here are a few choices I liked from the baby name finder tool in ParentPlace.com:

1. Edra, a 2-syllable girl’s name of Hebrew/Anglo-Saxon origin, means: Power; powerful.
2. Edel, a 2-syllable unisex name of Hebrew/Germanic origin, means: Gentle; brave; noble.
3. Enid, a 2-syllable girl’s name of Celtic origin, means: Fair; pure; purity.
4. Esme, a 2-syllable girl’s name of French/Spanish origin, means: Beloved protector; emerald. Nicknames for Esme are Esma and Esmee.

Now I need to look for my little girl’s name, which is going to be a nightmare, because my husband would like it to sound similar to Eric and Joel’s middle name that spells *oel, as in Noel and Joel.

Here’s another old entry from Eric’s old online journal.

My Pee-Pee
Date: 19 July 2001

I finally showed off my pee-pee today — look at that! Understandably, since I’ve been a shy baby, Doc managed to get a scan of my private parts only now, during Mommy’s 35th gestation week.

My pee-pee is circled out in the scan. The four-letter word typed in the scan spells “BOLA”, which, when translated from Malay to English, means “balls”.

This is an entry originally posted in my pregnancy journal for Eric.

I’m a S/He?
Date: 05 July 2001

Mommy and Daddy got a surprise from the Doc today, in Mommy’s 33rd gestation week and monthly check-up. This is what Mommy and the Doc said:

Doc: “What gender did I tell you the baby was?”
Mommy: “A girl.”
Doc: “Did I say 100% girl?”
Mommy: “Uh, no, you only mentioned it’s a girl, but you didn’t say it’s 100%.”
Doc: “Because, I think I’d like to reserve my judgement until much later. Looks like I’m seeing a set of testes here…”

Oh, oh! Mommy and Daddy already picked a name for me, but it ain’t a boy’s name! Doc said he can’t be 100% sure now, because it could be due to the umbilical cord covering my pee-pee part. And so, Doc set our next appointment two weeks from now, on 19 July. Doc hopes by then he can confirm whether I’m a boy or a girl.

Mommy and Daddy will have a “wonderful” time deciding on what to name me

This post is taken from the old pregnancy journals I have for Eric.

My First Photograph
Date: 17 April 2001

The Gynae Doctor took my photo when Mommy and Daddy went to visit him for the first time. I was very shy. I turned my back just when Gynae Doctor wanted to take my picture. Mommy and Daddy was very happy to see me move around. Daddy thinks I was skinny, though.

Mommy dedicated this ultrasound poem for me:
Blessings upon you, my baby unborn
Safely inside me, asleep and so warm,
Sleep must come easy to those who are unborn,
As the maker so silently fashions your form.
Sleep, while you can, so watery and warm,
For outside this world is a terrible storm,
Soon you’ll discover the taste of your tears,
So sleep now my loved one, my Baby, my Dear.

taken from Scraplink.com