What is urethra diverticulum?

Urethral diverticulum is a rare condition where an unwanted pocket or sac forms along the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body. UD is much more common in females than in males and usually appears between the ages of 40 and 70. The origin of acquired UD has recently been attributed to repeated infections and/or obstruction of the periurethral glands with subsequent obstruction eventually evolving into UD. Although some earlier studies have suggested congenital causes or trauma experienced during childbirth. Due to its location, it can become filled with urine or even pus.

Illustration adapted from: Urology Singapore

Whenever You Are Ready

Some time in early 2021, Monica shared that another patient of hers had the same condition and she went to see a urologist who recommended that there was no need for any invasive procedure. I jumped with excitement! Yay! No need for any surgery!

I made an appointment to see Dr...

There are 4 major types of urinary incontinence (a few other types), but non is the cause of my incontinence.

The first teeny leak probably started some time in 2015, if my memory serves me well. 

As a women’s fitness coach, my immediate instinct was to find out why.

Once you know the cause, you can work to solve the problem. 

That year, I had plans to travel to Canada to attend class and learn from a top women’s physiotherapist and teacher, Diane Lee. I promised myself I would go learn and also find out what was wrong. I graduated from the class, and Diane checked me. Based on movement assessments and finding out imbalances, we identified the rehabilitative work I should be doing and continue to observe if it would help the symptoms. 

The symptoms improved a little. But never did go away. 

In 2016, I attended another women’s fitness class with another top physiotherapist and teacher in California. I deduced...

Last year, we made a series of short educational videos on pregnancy and postnatal exercises for Active SG. They are now made available on their Circle Watch platform, where there are many other educational videos made available to help Singapore get active fit!

Yes! There is something for everyone - from kids to seniors

I hope that this series can help new mums get a clear overview of what to expect and ‘not expect’ during our pregnancy journeys. At the same time, these can help us make informed decisions about what we can choose to do to help ourselves heal and get stronger safely. 

The videos were beautifully filmed and produced by José Jeuland and his team at COCO CREATIVE STUDIO PTE LTD  

For direct access to the videos on fundamentals of pregnant and postnatal videos, simply click on this link: https://lnkd.in/graDPDpW 

For copyright purposes, the videos will only be accessible via the Circle Watch link. So click through...

This is a very common question among us breastfeeding mums.

So common that I forgot all about it … until one of the mamas asked me this question during one of the workshops.

I certainly have had my own experiences with regard to breastfeeding and weight loss.

But I also did a little research and reading up on what the actual data is, especially when many mothers are raving about how breastfeeding helped them in losing their excessive postpartum weight. Then there are equally many mothers who like me, experienced differently.

When it comes to breastfeeding, I believe there is value in understanding what the science says and what mums truly experience on the ground.

And so, I have take the liberty to look at this via 2 perspectives.

What the researches say.

And what real women I know say.

Simple Ground Research

To hear from the real experiences of mothers I personally know, I simply threw this question out to my network of mamas to get them to share their own...

PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

It is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.

That’s what I came to realise, after speaking to Silvia Wetherell, Counsellor and Psychotherapist at More Mindful, that this was what happened to my births(s).

I had PTSD from birth. 

Earlier this year, I responded to Slyvia’s public announcement, where she was looking for participants for her PHD research. She specifically wanted to research how effective EMDR could be used as a tool, to help women who experienced birth traumas cope with their experiences. 

The criteria for this research was, the women had to be within 18 months postpartum.

So I raised my hand!

I had no idea what EMDR Therapy was. 

(Now I know -  Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

I just saw birth trauma and responded to this word.

To be honest, I raised my hands, thinking that it must be hard for her to find such a niche...

Breastfeeding Journey with the twins

I did not mange to breastfeed the twins fully 10 years ago.

Maybe it was stress from an early birth. They were 31 weekers.

Maybe it was so early, my body had trouble reconciling with that fact that it needs to start production. The oxytocin wasn’t flowing because I got stressed up and triggered each time the nurse asked me “Did you bring any food mummy?”, when I visited them daily at the NICU.

And I only had small bottles each time.

Maybe it was stress from the daily commute and the babies were not with me to trigger any stimulation.

Maybe it was too much of domperidone, papaya fish soup, fenugreek etc ….

You name it, I tried it.

But non helped much.

Too many maybes, and we will never be able to pinpoint what exactly. 

Initially it was ok, because the twins only needed 1ml per feed. They were that tiny.

Then they needed 5ml, then 10ml, then 30ml…….. each feed. Multiply it by two.

But my body...

09/09/2020, Kareen Lai

C-Section Recovery

Once in a while I hear some women share that they had absolutely no problems with their C-section recoveries. They made it sound so smooth sailing, that I wonder if they ever went through the biggest surgical incision of their lives. Typically, a dislocated ankle would render most women ‘helpless’. But a C-section is nowhere near a dislocated ankle. It’s one of the biggest cuts ever made to our bodies. How could they claim there was not much pain and they could stand up the next day?

I was bewildered.

Because I couldn’t.

In fact, for the entire day after the C section, I was delirious. I was fading in and out of consciousness and I remembered I was just dozing off all the time. I didn’t want to see anyone. Not even my baby (yes, I still have not met him). I wanted to sleep but the neighbouring beds with their visitors made so much noise that they kept startling me out of my sleep too. I contemplated...

09/09/2020, Kareen Lai

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

From the moment you know you are pregnant, it’s all about decision makings.

Not to mention, spending money …. And more money.

The moment Dr Tan said ‘Go to the A&E’, we thought about medical fees.

I could go straight to KKH (public hospital where Singaporeans get can subsidies), but we knew that if we went straight to KKH, the certainty of getting me warded was 95%.

I preferred to meet Dr EK Tan so I could run through all my options with him. From the possibility of still birthing naturally, to the new expected delivery date, to total medical costs.

By the time of assessment, he was keen to have me warded because my amniotic fluid was low. Staying in the hospital with monitoring would be safer.

But I did not want to be warded.

Not in a private hospital anyway.

If baby was borned there, he’d be a 33 weeker preemie needing NICU care. And we would go bankrupt (again).

So I signed an...

9/9/2020 , Kareen Lai

Testing Positive

I have to confess.

I was not too elated when I found out about my second pregnancy (come to think about it, I wasn’t jumping for joy either when I found out about my first). After going through what I deemed as a traumatic first birth with my twins 9 years back, I had no intention of going through pregnancy ever again.

Besides, I have a girl and a boy already. They fill up my world and I fill up theirs. That was enough for me.

But then my period was late.

And I am never late.

My cycle has always been pretty consistent (except when I over-trained for a 100km).

In any case, for the first time ever, I got the hubs to pick up a box of Clear Blue. And he brought home two - “In case, you know …. The first box is faulty,” he says.

Both times the kit tested positive.

And after both times, I felt like passing out.

I’m not sure if anyone ever felt the same as me when they tested positive. But that was my...

I was 85kg the night before I gave birth to my twins!

You’d probably be thinking ‘oh that’s because you were carrying twins!’ But I can tell you the twins’ weight did not even add up to 3kg! They were preemies born at 32 weeks and were tiny. So yes I inherited all that extra weight, water, fats, whatever you want to call them.

My only thought that time was – How was I ever going to get back to my 57kg self?

In my desperation to get back into shape, I did what most mummies in Singapore would do. I signed up for a jamu massage package, a program at the slimming centre, and also a program at a strength training gym.

Not an inch was lost on my waistline

Sadly, after burning a deep hole in my pocket, not only did my waistline not move an inch, my confidence level was utterly shattered.

Firstly, it was a huge sum of money that I had spent and wasted.

Secondly, it was time lost, to no avail. Mummy time has to be the most...