afternoon mummies,
just took an extended lunch to do my xmas shopping. Very happy that i manage to get all the presents for the kids, it was a productive shopping hahaha...
re

iles,
If you are taking calcium pills right now - that can cause a bit of constipation. Pls make sure you take enough fiber through vegies or fruits. It took a while for my body to adjust after i started the calcium pills, now i just make sure that i eat fruits daily, drink enough water and take vegies...
in terms of piles after natural birth, to be honest mine is worse after i gave birth to #1 and this is my concern for the 2nd delivery as well. Mine was quite bad after delivery that i had to visit the doctor but there's nothing they can do about it and according to my gp it is a common problem for women after giving birth naturally. So we gotta make sure we practice pushing the right way, can do braxton hicks and ensure when you use your muscles that it is the right muscles (I'm starting this practice now)
vanilla,
I agree with piggy - you are the mother here so you should have your say. In the recent years, BF has become popular again and medical practicioner is promoting BF all over again. Maybe later on if you still have a problem, can take your mom along when you visit PD so that she can hear it from the doctors themself but of course gotta make sure your doctor is a pro BF one.
rabbitz,
welcome ! not sure if i can answer most of your question but let me try to answer these 2..
(4) you don't have to decide very early on the delivery method. in fact, in order for one to go for natural birth, the head of the baby must be in a position to support natural birth otherwise doctor usually advise against natural. If you want to opt for c-sec, I think there are some pros and cons we discussed before (may want to read some of the archives).
re epi pain, to be honest I don't really recall if there are any pain coz the contraction pain is more than the pain from the epi injection. I just remembered having to sign the form while holding the pain...
(6) your chest pain may be due to the heartburn as I have a gastric pain from time to time and when I had a really bad gastric, it cause me to have chest pain particularly when i inhale.. suggest you talk to your gynae about it.
(7) don't think you can generalise weight gain or even baby's development through your weight gain unless it is really low. up till now (i'm in 16 wks) - i gained 1.5kg and did not gain at all throughout first trimester. Your gynae should advise you if the baby's development is affected from your weight gain or not. If baby is developing well, not under or too overweight then don't need to worry about your own weight gain.
Hope that helps a bit !