Will you keep the baby or not?

Over lunch yesterday, this conversation came up, about one of our colleague's cousin having a Down syndrome baby...It's always sad to me, to hear this type of thing coz somehow, I pity the poor lil baby, and also pity the parents...

Commonly known, Down syndrome is a genetic disorder, associated with the presence of an extra chromosome 21, characterized by mild to severe mental retardation. Affected babies have weak muscle tone, a low nasal bridge, and epicanthic folds at the eyelids.

Since one of the friends who was lunching with us, P is planning for baby next year, we also spoke about pre-pregnancy test, prenatal test etc. For Down syndrome in particular, there's normal screening test (usually done over a blood test of the pregnant mother) to try to identify those pregnancies at "high risk". These pregnancies are then candidates for further diagnostic testing - Amniocentesis.

Amniocentesis is usually carried out between the 14th and 18th week of pregnancy, which is around 4th month. This procedure is used to collect amniotic fluid, the liquid that is in the womb. It's performed in the doctor's office or in the hospital on an "out-patient" basis. A needle is inserted through the mother's abdominal wall into the uterus, using ultrasound to guide the needle. Approximately one ounce of fluid is taken for testing. This fluid contains fetal cells that can be examined for chromosome tests. It takes about 2 weeks to determine if the fetus has Down syndrome or not.

As we were talking, I have this question in my mind which I put it forth to get some feedback. What happens if the Amniocentesis result came out to be positive where your baby is highly possibly having Down syndrome? Are you gonna keep the baby or not?

This is a tough question. P said he will rather not think about this until he really needs to make such decision. Most of us kept quiet...I agreed with P. What do you think? Will you keep the baby or not?

Smoking is bad for health, isnt it?

When our parents were young, people could buy cigarettes and smoke pretty much anywhere — even in hospitals! Ads for cigarettes were all over the place...Comparing with us today, we're more aware about how bad smoking is for our health. Smoking is restricted or banned in a lot of public places and cigarette companies are no longer allowed to advertise on TV, radio, and in many magazines.

Almost everyone knows that smoking causes cancer, emphysema, and heart disease; that it can shorten your life by 10 years or more! Not to mention that the habit can cost a smoker thousands of dollars a year! So why would people still light up? They love to burn their lives off? They want to test out their healthy lungs?

I really dont understand!

I may get quite emotional when I continue writing this, so please bare with me...

I recently found out that my dad is smoking AGAIN. He was a smoker since I was very young but he quitted many years ago since he had serious hypertension, high cholesterol, minor altery blockage and single kidney failure problem. Many studies detail the evidence that cigarette smoking is the major cause of coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack. So we constantly remind him that his move to quit smoking was the right thing to do.

When I accidentally saw him holding the cigarette smoking away in the coffee shop, I almost fainted and I didnt know what to say! Should I confront & scold him for not loving himself & not loving us coz he will make us worry? Should I keep quiet & not do anything about it since it's his choice to burn out his lungs & lead more health issues to himself? I was definitely upset about this, but not sure what I should do or what can I do....

On another note, I have a loving, caring & romantic bro-in-law who loves his wife (my sister) and his 2 pretty daughters a lot. He's a business man and made quite alot of money (I guess), so they are staying in bungalow house and sis is a housewife. Everyone thinks that he's the best husband & best daddy, but I really dont think so. Why? Simple - He's a heavy smoker!

See...he's the only son in the family and sis is a housewife. His 2 daughters are 14 & 10 years old this year which I think they are still pretty young. So what happens if, one day bro got a heart attack or stroke? Who's gonna take care of the family finance? Who's gonna provide TLC (tender-loving-care) to sis & their 2 girls?

Well, many smokers will give all kinds of excuses for staying in the habit - Stressed out with work, it's already a habit, it's cool, whatever...But have these smokers thought of their family & their love ones?

Who doesnt know smoking is bad for health? But why these smokers are still giving those excuses? Why would they treat their lungs as the ashtray?

Is having a "fu-bu" something common?

I'm not so sure how many of you do not know what "fu-bu" is, but I guess it's better for me to just explain it here, just in case...*it's definitely not the brand 'FUBU'*

"fu-bu" is actually made up by 2 words : "fuck" + "buddy" = fu-bu

I started to hear people using this "word" more & more common these days, so I'm just wondering what the world has turned into...coz this is something that I definitely cannot accept!

What's the difference between fu-bu and one-night-stand (ONS)? The difference is :

• ONS is usually when u dont know the person u f***, and u dont really leave contact to know each other better or keep the relationship going.


• fu-bu is when u actually know this person, but not bothering if the person is married or engaged or whatever, and f*** each other when there's a need.

Hubby & I have a friend "C" who's married with 2 kids and wife currently pregnant with 3rd baby. No doubt he's a very very attractive man, especially when he starts speaking, but this doesnt mean he can have fu-bu! Apparently he has not only one fu-bu, but a few! GOSH...And more surprisingly to find out is, some are actually married women! I cant believe it!

Recently we also heard of another person "Y" who broke up a fu-bu relationship with a married man...She said she has been fu-bu-ing with this person for years without her real boyfriend knowing it and she really enjoyed it! Oh my God...I almost fainted!

Am I leaving in the cage not seeing the world or what? Have u also got a "fu-bu"? Have u have friends who are "fu-bu" of another person? Is this something really common now?

Mama or Baby?

Not sure how come this conversation came up during lunch last week, but I feel it is something to ponder upon....

If you are a married man & one day your pregnant wife is in the delivery ward struggling to deliver the baby...due to unforseen circumstances, the gynae told u to leave the ward and wait outside....

After some time, the gynae comes out from the ward and asking you this question :

"We have tried all we can, but we can only safe either the baby OR the mother...now the decision lies with you."

What will you answer?

Infact when asked this question, 99.9% of guys will answer : "Safe my wife!"

What if you are the mother? What if the question is posted to YOU by the gynae? Will you tell the gynae to safe your baby or yourself?

I almost immediately answered :"Ofcoz safe my baby!" You wont know how it feels being a pregnant mother, building the whole baby bit by bit in your own body...it's just different!

But then again, I was posted with subsequent question :"So you want your baby to be neglected since birth and then when your hubby re-marries another woman, you want your baby to be tortured & mistreated by her?"

Err...I cant answer that question....Obviously I dont want my baby to suffer, but it will be too painful for me to stay alive by sacrificing the baby!

What do you think?

Shy guy still exist?

Was just listening to a close friend's story about her recent date - we call him "the shy guy"...It was quite funny and we ended up all laughing!

Infact this "shy guy" has been dating M (my close friend) for past few months, sent her HUGE bouquet of flower to the office during her birthday and bought her the latest Canon Digital Camera as birthday gift! She finds him quite interesting, pretty good looking, soft & gentle person, and above all, he drives a BMer! But one weird thing about him is - TOO SHY!

According to M, he will need an excuse to date her each time, ie. asking her to accompany him for wedding dinner, company function, when he has something to pass to her, when there's free movie tickets to redeem, etc...hahaha, so funny!

And during weekends, he will sms M asking "what ru doing?" Then when M replied saying "Home, doing nothing", hoping that he will ask her out. Guess what? He will just reply saying "M at home too, watching F1", and that's it! wahahaha!

We concluded that this guy is just too shy...BUT does shy guy really still exist these days? I just think this guy needs to read some Shy Guy Dating Guide or something! haha...What do u think? I thought guys nowadays are a lot more daring, out there dating or hunting for 1-nite-stand most of the time if not married, NO?

My friend M is wondering if she should just ask him straight if he likes her and if yes, let's progress....I seriously dont know what advice to give her...what do u think?