Adding to her uncertainty, Lee started spotting from the second to third month of her pregnancy, fuelling fears of a miscarriage. She also suffered from morning sickness and vomited frequently in her first trimester.
Well-meaning friends told her: “You are going to lose your freedom. You can’t do this, you can’t do that, you can’t go jet skiing, you can’t fly, you can’t ride your motorcycle, you can’t go hiking,” she said.
A go-getter, Lee resented these feelings of weakness, vulnerability and loss of control.
After the morning sickness resolved in her second trimester, she recalled feeling “very sian”, or frustrated.
“I felt like I couldn’t do anything. There was no agency,” she said.
That was when Lee decided if she couldn’t soar in the sky, she would reach new heights – on foot. She would trek.
“There is this slightly rebellious streak in me that made me want to prove myself and others wrong. I wanted to solidify that belief that I could still achieve things that I put my mind to,” she reflected.
