Some stories to share..

Batu Pahat!!

2012-02-21T22:17:00.004-08:00

The week before Valentine's, Love and I decided to go to Batu Pahat for our little getaway. Of course, we just had to bring our little sweetheart, Khaira Asyikin!!!~

Since there was a Liverpool's match that night, Baby Khaira dressed up in her rompers given by SIL+BIL. Hehe.

Me and my dad love Liverpool.

I was quite nervous to bring her to Batu Pahat, but she slept all the way to Batu Pahat and from BP to KL. Also, we spent a night at the ~~Chua Soi Lek~~ Katerina Hotel. Alhamdulillah, everything turns out great.

I did not have any green light to take her to swim in the pool, so we just brought her to the pool to chill.

Luckily there was a bathtub in the room, so she had lotsa fun swimming, sampai tergelak-gelak.

Overall, it was super duper fun, our getaway in Batu Pahat. A different kind of fun than back when there was just the two of us. Kind of like a rehearsel before we go to Bali. Khaira was so easy to entertain. Alhamdulillah.

Lepas ni, we go to Bali ok?

Loves of my life :)

Unexpected

2012-02-12T16:58:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it takes the most unexpected person to nudge us with a sledgehammer after we ignore all the signs.

And for me, that unexpected person happens to come in front of my eyes out of nowhere today.

A sign from the above I believe. Alhamdulillah. I've had enough strength to go on for at least until this evening. :)

This very moment

2012-02-09T17:15:00.000-08:00

Ibu and Khaira at Marks and Spencer, KLCC.

Dearest Little Khaira,

At this very moment, you were next to me, sleeping. Just the two of us. Abi left for futsal as what he normally did every Friday night. I stared at you in the dim of our night lamp and I could see a little girl who had a very big impact in my life.

I saw a face that made me psyched to go home from work everyday. I would rush to bath to make sure I was clean by the time I held you.

Then, if the weather is good, I'd bring you sightseeing along the neighbourhood in your stroller.

If it's raining, we'd sit together watching the fishes in datuk's pond. Remember that little white fish? We called it 'Ikan Khaira'. Datuk bought it for you right after you were born.

You are 3 months plus now, and you're growing up as healthy as you could be, Alhamdulillah.

You're all excited at Chili's KLCC.

Nanny and Datuk had a strict restriction of not bringing you out to malls or to go out at night until you're big enough. But Ibu and Abi decided that you're ready for malls. So this weekend, we're gonna take you to KLCC for the first time!

I always look forward for the day you're big enough to have a special mother daughter time with me. We'd go shopping, we'd go lunch together then I'd bring you to playground later in the evening.. the thought of it always make me smile.

We love you, Khaira Asyikin. To the bits.

Ibu's fav pics at the moment sbb Khaira and Sofea (BFF Maria's bundle of joy) were holding hands.

Khaira and Abang Fatih (abang susuan).

How dilated Am I? - my view on sarahvine's article

2012-02-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

This article is my summary/review from sarahvine's article "How Dilated Am I? Assessing Dilation in Labor WITHOUT an Internal Exam" wrote in her blog.

I wish I would have read her article before I went into labour. But Alhamdulillah, my labour went well after all.

Like most women, I hate vaginal examination (VE). For me personally, it doesn't matter how many cms you have dilated, because it doesn't ensure you how much longer you'll be in labour. Like the theory of 1cm dilation in an hour, mine dilates at 6cms in an hour. So, I guess, the best thing is that trust your instinct. Your body and baby will tell you, insya Allah.

What sarahvine wrote in her blog had accurately happened to me during my labour, so the next baby I think I would be more relaxed knowing that what my instinct told me is true.

1. Sound.

♥ When I was less than 3cms dilated, yup I can still laugh and speak in between contractions. Even sometimes the contractions are so mild, I can still laugh while doing my breathing techniques. Such happy moods to see my Khaira!

♥ After 6 cms dilated, I barely know what is happening outside my body. I just closed my eyes, and listened to the sound of Yassin and Love and that was about it. I barely talked, I was in my own world.

♥ Just before Khaira's head is crowning, I just know she was about to go out because I had the urge of pushing. And here, some people may have been vocalizing, yes the urge was there. But I remained silent because I wanted to save my energy for the pushing stage.

2. Smell.

Yup, there's a smell, been explained in details here.

3. Irrationality.

♥ Sifu Wai Han told me all about it before, the fact that suddenly you feel you cannot go on anymore, or you want a pain relief when you did so well the minute before. This is a sign that the labour is very very very near. I did have the thought of, "What am I thinking? Delivering without any pain relief, am I out of my mind?" I didn't vocalize it, and a minute after that, I already started breathing out my baby :)

4. Feel.

I didn't know about these before, interesting!

♥ "During a contraction, at the beginning of labor, check how many fingers you can fit between the fundus (top of your bump) and the bra line – you will be able to fit 5 fingers."

♥ "When you can fit 3 fingers, I usually tell mothers they can think about going into hospital as they will find they are around 5cm dilated."

♥ "At 1 finger, you are fully dilated."

5. Look.

For me, it's hard to check, needs a mirror plus too focused to do this.

♥ "‘bottom line’, which is shadow that extends from the anus up towards the back along the crease of the buttocks. It begins as 1cm and lengthens to 10cm, and it’s length correlates with cervical dilation."

6. Bloody show

2-3cms dilated. It happened to me the morning I delivered Little Khaira (Gave birth at 6.55pm, started to have a blood show at 3am). It's like the beginning of your period and it stays (and gets more) until you birth your baby. I read an article, it's considered nifas and so we Muslim do not have to pray anymore. Wallahualam.

Anyhow, blood show do not happen to anyone, sometimes their amniotic fluid comes out first.

7. Opening of the Back.

If the area above tailbone started to bulge out during pushing, the baby is sooooo near. I did not observe this, sorry!

In a lighter note, my birth stories had been published in the hypnobirthing website, whee!!

Neighbour comel

2012-02-01T17:18:00.000-08:00

A three year old neighbour: Bersihnye rumah Pak Cik. Rumah Pak Cik ada Koko Crunch tak?
Love: Takdela.
A three year old neighbour: Kenapa tade Koko Crunch, Pak Cik lupa beli ke?

Love offered his something else instead.

A three year old neighbour: Ni apa ni Pak Cik, rasa macam Koko Crunch ke?

...

A three year old neighbour: Pak cik, siapa nama baby ni?
My dad: Nama dia Khaira Asyikin.
A three year old neighbour: Owh.. Khaira Asyikin. Cantik dagu Khaira Asyikin! (Referring to Khaira's double chin)

Midnight oil

2012-02-01T16:47:00.000-08:00

So the plan is.. I'm gonna get my PhD real soon, then after a while I'm gonna retire early to take care of my children.

Some people asked, "Why bother do PhD if you would end up retiring early after all?"

Or when someone straight away became a WAHM after her degree, people would said, "Such a waste of time and money in the university!"

Why? Why that thought?

So what if I stopped working after I'm done with PhD? Can't I use that knowledge to teach my children later on? Why bother send them to tuition when I can teach them with more love than any other teachers in the world will do.

In fact, I'm planning to learn about a lot of things after I'm done with PhD. Piano class, taquma, perhaps a bit of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) or more on gentle birthing?

Insya Allah, I will always learn something and teach something in return as far as I live. Even if I'm not gonna use what I learned later on, what harm can it done?

Because of that, I am proud with Love who was just starting his Master two days ago!~

I know working and studying at the same time were not an easy task, even more with our bundle of joy, but I have faith that when Allah SWT gets us to it, He will get us through it. Insya Allah. Ameen.

As for now, let's burn the midnight oil together!!!

Do you get what I'm trying to draw? Kalau tak, have to take drawing class also after PhD. Hmm..

Voucher and books :)

2012-01-31T18:57:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, we complain for not getting anything.

And when we do get that something, we feel fishy about it.

Even worse, when we get something, we misuse that something.

So today.. I would just like to thank the governement for giving me this..

Ahamdulillah :)

Which an hour later turned into this..

Waaawawawa!!! Rambang mata di kedai buku.

And since sharing is caring, I bought something to everyone back at home too!!! I so love kedai buku, even though it's just KOOP Uniten. Haha!

Baby Khaira's progress - Third month

2012-01-29T17:16:00.000-08:00

Gain 1.1kgs - current weight: 6.1kgs
Length increases 5cms - current length: 60cms

Able to:

♥ Play with her hands, it's like an obsession. First, she was obsessed with her right hand (we thought because of the sound of the bell from her bracelet), then both hands. Even to the extend when she was busy playing with her hands and we picked her up to play with her, she would cry out loud.
♥ Reach for things from her playgym and grab our fingers.
♥ Follow something with her eyes.
♥ Suck her fingers (bau masam!)
♥ Respond when we talk to her, and yes she talks a lot like the both of us. And laugh out loud when we played with her. Adorable! :)

Fav. toy: Her playgym. Dah tak layan rattle.

Disciplining babies..

2012-01-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at our house, Baby Khaira woke up all smiling and happy. So, we put her down and she played all by herself for a while while we cleaned the house. Then, she started crying.

So, I nursed her. She slept in my arms. Put her down. She cried.

Nursed her again. She slept. Put her down. She cried.

Passed to Love. Played with her. Laughed. Put her down. She cried.

This went on for the whole day, until around 7pm, she decided to sleep. And that was it.

My theory: She had a tummyache, she did not have a bowel movement for 3 days for the first time.

Love's theory: She always had someone to carry her everytime she cried, so she became spoiled.

I have to admit, Baby Khaira might be a bit spoiled. She is the first grandchild of both sides.

At my mum's house.

When she cried. My dad would pick her up. Cried again. Mom picked her up. Cried some more. Alif would rushed down from his room to pick her up. If he was not around, Hadi would be happy to cuddle her though in an awkward way.

At my in law's house.

She hardly cried. Because she was hardly by herself. Either in my MIL's arm or my SIL's arm.

Friends suggested us to just let her cry. Don't pick her up. Once she got tired, she would sleep on her own.

We decided to give it a try.

The first minute. Ok she'll stop.

Second. Now she's starting to slow down.

Third. Still crying, it's ok. She's gonna stop very soon.

Fourth minute. Let's wait a little bit more.

Fifth minute. Ok that was it!!! *And I started holding her*

Omaigodddd so harddd!!!

We tried a couple more time, but failed. I failed.

I just don't have the heart.

What running through my mind was..

The first minute. What if she falls asleep after tired of crying. My god!! I'm gonna feel guilty for the whole time that she sleeps, man!

Second. What if she chokes because of crying out too loud?

Third. What if too much air enters her stomach while crying and thus, colic? Poor baby..

Fourth minute. Even worse, what if she realized that whatever she demanded from the beginning couldn't be met? And she grow up as a child who would never want to demand anything because she knew we wouldn't meet it after all. Oh my God! What am I doing to my daughter's development.

Fifth minute. Ohh I have to pick her up! I must pick her up!

But seriously, if I don't pick her up everytime she wants me to, would she grow up as a child who would think I won't meet her needs?

I have a feeling that this is just temporary. That she'll be back to what she used to be very soon. And that it's too early to discipline her. That the more I meet her needs, the happier she'll become and the more independent she'll be.

However some part of me, wanted to discipline her so it would be easier for mum to take care of her.

But for that little girl to cry that long with me not doing anything just kills me :(

That dream..

2012-01-15T17:43:00.000-08:00

A lot of thing has changed from back then you were young..

From running hysterically greeting your dad at the door when he came home from work, to just say 'hye' while watching the tv.

From looking up at every single thing your mum did, to start complaining how perfectionist she is.

From always love following your parents everywhere, to suddenly have "better" things to do rather than attending the wedding of someone you barely knew.

Sad..

And those dreams you have back then you were young..

"Someday, I'm gonna be an astronaut!"

Adult you: "Wrong!"

"After I become an astronaut and rich, I'm gonna buy mum and dad a house."

Adult you: "~~Wrong! (Dapat beli rumah untuk diri sendiri pon, dah bersyukur)~~ Soon?"

Now that you're an adult, you find it funny, the things you did or said back when you were young. Funny, yet sooo very innocent. And you can't help thinking, when did it all stop?

When was the last time you waited for your dad at the front door?

When was the last time you looked up at your mom?

When was the last time you became psyched to follow your parents to a wedding?

When was the last time you got so optimistic and decided to buy something big for your parents?

-__-

But, lately I Love and I have the opportunity to give something back to our parents.

Love bought himself a new Alfa 146 :) (Part of the reason he bought an Alfa because his dad loves Alfa, and when he was young, he always wanted to buy an Alfa for his dad)

So, one item to be crossed off before i become a WAHM..

And he gave me his car.

And I gave my beloved car to my parents!! So, another item is crossed off.

I know it's not much, what I gave to my parents, or what Love gave to his Mum (he managed to give something to his mum too), but it's more of a dream, the thing you always wanted to do since you were small.

And by giving back to the parents, we believe it will all come back to us. Insya Allah.

Khaira in hanbok :)

2012-01-15T16:57:00.000-08:00

I just wanna be with you.

Hello 2012!!

2012-01-08T22:20:00.000-08:00

2012, I have a feeling it would be another awesome year for me with Baby Khaira by my side :)

I had a lot of fun in 2011.

Started my year having a braces and with the news that I was pregnant. Had our last honeymoon (just the two of us) in Korea, which was super awesome. Had a wonderful time delivering Baby Khaira via hypnobirth. Received the most thoughtful gift from Love -- life insurance. Renovate our house and move in by the end of the year. And we even have a part time maid to help us clean the house.

Blissful year. Alhamdulillah.

Yet to achieve another milestone though, to collect results for my PhD.

15% more work for me to come up with the result; I just need to find tune. I strongly think I could finish it since I took extra a couple of weeks leave. But, since Baby Khaira came to my life, I decided to take it slow and just enjoy my life with her. I have no regrets :) She's the only thing that can slow me down and yet make me smile!! :)

Bismillah, to another awesome year!

Back to school..

2012-01-05T17:38:00.000-08:00

..or work.

Both are the same to me.

Started working today, and resuming my PhD.

Gosh, I already hate the traffic jams.

I already hate the annoying songs in the radio as I drive to work.

I already hate leaving her behind..

She's in my eyes, she's in my ears.
She's in my blood, she's in my tears.
I breathe love and see her everyday.
Even though my love is a world away.

My righteousness sure is crumbling :(

Khaira's Aqiqah + our housewarming

2011-12-28T23:47:00.000-08:00

The most adorable

Alhamdulillah, we're done with Khaira's aqiqah. A very small ceremony attended by our family and close friends.

Khaira, Abi and my whole family were wearing gold. Me? This is the only baju kurung that can fit me at the moment. Tsk.. Tsk..

At the same time, we recited Yassin in our new house - where the event took place. Khaira was quite cranky during Yassin recital because she was hungry. I fed her, and she slept the whole time during marhaban.

Right after the event, we spent our first night at our new house, as a family. And hence I'm crossing the 8th item in my 2011's wishlist; move in to our new home.

We are yet to have internet in our new home. At the moment, I am in my office room. Not that I'm back to work, but I have some stuff to settle here. And I miss this little girl like mad.

Right after the event, my dad and Love did this to Khaira..

And she looked cuter than ever dengan kepala botak. Will update her picture soon!

Highlight

2011-12-22T21:03:00.000-08:00

I remember how I was a bit reluctant when he first came to me and asked me to become his final year project (FYP) supervisor. I was about to have my maternity leave the second semester of his FYP, that would be tough.

But to turn a student down was not even an option. I took him anyway. He proved himself worthy when he did everything I asked. Not only that, he questioned back, pieces by pieces until he managed to put them in one big picture.

When you see yourself in another person, you would do everything under the sky to help him. His persistence, his patience, his curiosity.. just enlightened me and smothered me at the same time. Hehe. Imagine, he would call me at midnight to ask about his project, super funny!

Then, at the critical moment, there I was. I gave birth, I got confined, and I had a hard time juggling between a mother, a PhD student, a lecturer, a supervisor and a 'supervisee' (is there such a word?) at the same time.

He came over every now and then. We discussed through phone most of the time. How hard.. long distance supervising for someone as new as me, you wouldn't even want to imagine.

His last visit, we had a long serious discussion. I am sure happy with his technical ability. I was a proud supervisor when his paper got published in a conference. But his ability on selling his project worried me BIG time. Love helped me brainwashed him, spent an hour teaching him on his presentation skills; two days before his actual presentation.

And just about an hour ago, he called. Thanking Love and me because..

HE HAS JUST BEEN NOMINATED AS THE BEST FYP AWARD.

Alhamdulillah.

Just about I feel soooooo hard to go back to work.

To you, I'm proud of you :) This is the highlight of my supervising career.

To Love, what more can I say.. :)

Baby Khaira's progress - Second month

2011-12-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

Gain 1.1kgs - current weight: 5.0kgs
Length increases 1cm - current length: 55cms

Had her circumcision on 4th December 2011.

Able to:

♥ tilt her body to one side
♥ meniarap once, then nangis sbb taktau nak baring balik
♥ adjust blanket
♥ smile in response to you. ie. when you call her name
♥ response to her name
♥ make cute sounds when playing
♥ kick vigorously
♥ adjusting to day and night
♥ play with her saliva and her tongue

Favourite toy still rattle given by my dad. Mom bought her another rattle, but maybe too loud, Khaira didn't like it. She's not interested in ducks and soft toys with sound. Maybe not yet. Already introduced her to the gym given by my bro's future MIL. But as for now, Khaira has not yet discover how to play with it. Soon k, very soon. I can't wait to get her the Kick Piano from Fisher Price!

Surviving confinemnt

2011-12-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

Woottttt!! I survived the 44 days of confinement!! :)

I wouldn’t say it was an easy one. Not mentally, not physically. I’m done with 44 days of having to ikat rambut, having to wear long sleeves and kain batik all the time (masa pantang panas gile badan!), bertungku pagi and petang for the whole 44 days (believe it or not, i did that!), berpilis, berbarut, bertangas. Lagi the food!!! Haiyo, bosan!!!!!~

Alhamdulillah, I’m through all that. Though some things, I have to still do until hari ke 100. Such as no air sejuk, bertungku still everyday in certain parts and barut? Haha, now have to wear girdle siang and malam. For petite like me, the best girdle has got to be from Cosway. Makan masih jaga since I breastfeed Baby Khaira, but not as bad.

I haven’t yet go back to my pre pregnancy weight of 34kgs. Currently I am 35.8kgs. I don’t intend to get back to my old weight pon, I like the curves I have now. But still, could not help but being disappointed of the fact that most clothes still did not fit me :(

Finally, get out of the house after confinement. Visited my in laws!

Went to Shameem’s wedding at her house and at Hotel Istana. The grandest wedding I’ve ever attended!

Eh? Hijrah :)

Had to leave Baby Khaira behind most of the time we were out. My parents have a strict restriction on bringing Khaira to shopping malls until she’s 6 months old. Which is fine by Love and me because we want her to be less exposed to the outside environment for longest possible. But, I miss her all the time, 4 hours pon rasa cam nak nangis. Pelik sungguh. How to go to work like this, Khaira?

But the best thing about ending the confinement is that slowly, I can find tune on what’s work for Baby Khaira and what’s not. Alhamdulillah.

Baby Khaira pon dah pandai main! Last night, Love candid the most adorable photo of us, my current fav.

Saya sayang awak a lot, Khaira!

As of now, busy preparing to move in to our new house and busy preparing for Khaira’s Aqiqah. Again, to all WAHMs out there, semakin hari semakin cemburu!

P/S: I bought the fight ticket to Bali yesterday! Minggu ni fuel surcharge AirAsia murah!

The breastfeeding challenges

2011-11-29T06:40:00.000-08:00

Only Allah SWT knows how challenging it is to breastfeed Baby Khaira.

The first three days, I did not manage to produce any milk. After three massage sessions, I fully breastfeed Baby Khaira on the fourth day of her life.

Unfortunately, Baby Khaira kept on having colic after I breasfed her. Tried experimenting with my diet and found out that she could not take lobak putih. So, I stopped eating lobak putih and she got better.

But then, my milk supply decreased. The confinement lady came again and found out that there was some clog. Massage again, Alhamdulillah the next morning, it got better.

After I stopped pumping since the milk supply decreased, I started again after the massage. But only to find out that there was no suction with the breast pump. Manufacturing defect. Took a week plus to service and they loaned us another pump, Modu. Sucks a lot!! The suction was so slow, took hours to express my breastmilk.

Then, I got a message in my blog from a reader saying it was not good to pump during the first 6 weeks. I took it as a sign. Takpelah, tak pump for a while. After all, I got about 12 bottles (60 ozs) of supply already.

So, last Saturday, Love dropped by at our new house.. where I stored my expressed brestmilk (EBM). And sangatlaaaaahhhh sedih, rumah black out. The 12 bottles of EBM? Rosak, dah masam.

Astaghfirullah.

Dugaan..

La yukallifullah hunafsan illawus 'aha.

Everytime I read the Ma'thurat, I paused at this part and cried.

"On no soul do Allah place a burden greater than it can bear."

Baby Khaira's progress - First month

2011-11-25T21:19:00.000-08:00

Gain 1.2kgs - current weight: 3.9kgs
Length increases 5cms - current length: 54cms

Able to:
♥ focus on object like my face
♥ respond to rattle and song (her fav. Malaysia Truly Asia)
♥ smile spontaneously
♥ awkward laugh; macam tercekik pon ade
♥ hold head steady when upright

♥ bring both hands together
♥ hold bottle on her own

♥ wobble her head
♥ cries differ when hungry, she would sound like this, "ngaaaaaa!!"

For newborns, they are in the process of watching and listening. They learn and develop through sensory stimulation. They respond best to toys that encourage them to listen, look and touch.

Khaira's fav toy of the month: Tollyjoy rattle from Atuk!

A decade together and another year older

2011-11-24T02:04:00.000-08:00

21st Nov, 10 years ago, a best friend that was so dear to me proposed me to become his girlfriend.. And now, I'm his wife and the mother to our daughter, Baby Khaira!

On 22nd Nov was Love's 26th birthday. Whee!! We had moderate celebrations this year; for his and for mine compared to last year's celebration -> mine; his.

For mine, since it was 5 days before I gave birth to Khaira, we had a mini celebration at Little White Cafe , Bangi. Ooohhh.. The red velvet is to die for!

For his, since I was in confinement, I couldn't take him out to a fancy dinner. For a little surprise I decided to try Blooming and send over a box of chocolate for him at his office.

I am very satisfied with the service. The chocolate came at the right time and it was uber delicious! I chose Beryl's homemade chocolate, it was Oreo cookies inside with Beryl's chocolate outside. Love loves both the surprise and the taste of the chocolate. I am one happy customer, good job Blooming!

Later as he got home, I called for Domino's delivery and we had a mini celebration with my family. FYI, I did not eat any of the pizzas no matter how tempting it was. *Pat at the back* Am so proud with myself.

Happy birthday, Sayaaannngggggg!!!! I love you a lot. After confinement, we go celebrate ok!!! :)

One month old

2011-11-18T01:05:00.000-08:00

Anakku Khaira,

Alhamdulillah.. U’re one month old today!

I will forever remember the moment I birth u. U cried a little just to announce ur presence to the world. And when the Dr. put u on my tummy, the first thing I realized was how large your eyes were.. The most beautifull!

During my whole pregnancy, I always pray for an easy delivery. Alhamdulillah, I got just that. But I took for granted to pray for my milk supply. And for the first 3 days of your life, we had to feed u with Mama Iza’s EBM + formula. God knows how it broke my heart. Thus my dear Khaira, don’t take for granted the power of doa. We are just His humble servants after all.

The first night we took you home, we slept at Nanny’s guest room downstairs. What started as a peaceful night turned out to be a chaos when u cried everytime we put u down. So abi and Ibu had to hold u the whole night, clueless on what to do.

The next day onwards, Nanny and Atuk decided to sleep in the living room, helping Abi and Ibu to take care of u. At times, Ayah Ngah and Busu came down to hold u in the middle of the night when u cried, so much love in the house for u. Nanny and Atuk taught us what to do when u cried and eventually u got better day by day. WE gor better day by day. When u grow up later, please do ALWAYS remember what Atuk, Nanny, Ayah Ngah and Busu did for u k.

Khaira, I never knew breastfeeding would be such a time consuming task. U were nursing every hour and sometimes up to 40 mins per nursing. I learned that breast milk are much easier to digest compared to cow’s milk. And that explains the every hour feeding, day and night and I never had a solid sleep more than 2 hours after u’re born.

You were having colic for the first 4 weeks of ur life. I tried to monitor everything I ate, and just about 3 days ago, I stopped eating lobak putih that was supposed to increase my milk supply, and finally ur tummy got better and better. Alhamdulillah.

Day after day, u started to nurse less frequently. Started to recover from ur mild jaundice. Started to learn how to burp and to adapt on day and night.

Ibu on the other hand, learned how to hold a fragile newborn, learned how to nuse u, how to burp u, how to calm u down..

Abi learned how to bath u, to change ur diapers, to swaddle u, to make u sleep..

Dear Khaira, the reason I’m writing this letter is not to whine, but to remind u of the hard times; the times I almost gave up, the times I bet u almost gave up. But look at us Khaira, after a month, we adapt to each other eventually!

You as that tiny little person outside the womb. Ibu and Abi which life changed into parenthood in just one night. And with patience and time, we managed to find the middle point.

A month old Khaira at 3.9 kg

I hope in the future, u’ll always remember, if we survived this, we can survive everything insya Allah. At times u think u cannot go on, remember that u’re a strong person. Not a single cry during BCG, a minor cry during Hep B yesterday, you’ll survive, I have faith.

Much love, Ibu and Abi..

Mum vs Grandmum

2011-11-09T00:52:00.001-08:00

My mum was being raised by her grandmother, I was raised by my grandmother while my mom was working and now Baby Khaira would be raised by her grandmother (my mom) when I'm away to work later.

Now since I'm in confinement under Mum's care, I pretty much get the idea of how Baby Khaira is going to be raised by my mum.

And of course, since Mum and I were totally on a different page, there were hiccups here and there. Like the fact how Mum babytalked all the time while Love and I treated Little Khaira as intelligent human being as possible. Or she held and sang to her for every single reasons possible; nak tido, nak buang air, hiccups, while Love and I would rather calmed her down inside her baby cot.

Gaahhhhh!! Tension ok sometimes!

Anyhow, I too was raised by my grandparents. I, too was being spoiled by my grandmum and many times I witnessed the arguments between Mum and Grandmum, funny it's happening to me now.

But to think about it again, I am REALLY glad that Grandmum was a BIG part of my life. I love her endlessly, she talked to me in ways a mum could never talked to her daughter.. She talked to me in ways I would listen. And I talked to her in ways she would listen.

And Mum, being a MOTHER has taught me all the disciplines I should learn. Though the gap between me and Mum were bigger than with my Grandmum, but I couldn't deny the fact that she shaped me to become the person I am today.

I might be spoiled by my Grandmum, but at the end of the day, both Mum and Grandmum were proud of who I am today. That is all that matters in the end, right?

And for that, I am more than happy that Little Khaira is going to have the right balance in her life. The love of a Grandmum and a Mother :)

Second stage of renovation!

2011-11-06T01:11:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah, all praise be to Allah SWT.

The second stage of renovation for our home seems to be earlier than we thought it would be. Rezeki Khaira.

We decided to cement the outside of the house about a month before Khaira was born so that for her aqiqah, guests would feel more comfortable to makan2 there.

Ironically, after dad helped us find the best contractor, the work began on the day Little Khaira was born herself :)

So, this was our front porch before..

And this is after renovation..

The back of the house, before..

After renovation..

Costs us RM3200 altogether.

Our next plan is to put gutter and renovate the staircase. Insya Allah, next year :) Moga dipermudahkan. Ameen.

Video of Khaira Asyikin's hypnobirth

2011-11-02T05:26:00.000-07:00

Pardon me for the lack of updates!!

I was in birth high these past couple of weeks. Remember when you first fell in love, nothing else seems to matter except for your loved ones. Masya Allah, that is kinda how it feels, such beautiful feeling puts me in cloud 9 all the time.

I am so in love with Little Khaira, words could not expressed how I feel. Owh.. WAHMs out there, I soooo envy you guys!

Anyways, video of Little Khaira's birth as promised!

Taken by Love, edited by Love with love..

Alhamdulillah, Dear Allah I could never thank you enough :)

The (hypno)birth of Khaira Asyikin

2011-10-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

Little Khaira's EDD was on the 30th October 2011, but I had a feeling she would come out to this world a little earlier. I predicted she would come out on the 14th, Love predicted on the 16th.

But after our weekly check up on the 13th, doctor said baby had not yet engaged, it would take more than a week, I got disappointed. I could not wait to see our baby, so I did almost everything to get Little Khaira engaged. Squat, walk for 3kms, bouncing on gym ball, you name it..

So a day before the delivery, I took a slow walk along Taman TAR, about 3kms. I attended Baby Zara's aqiqah and Uniten's convo. At night, I felt some mild and yet a new sensation during my surge. I urinate even more frequently that night, almost once every 2 hours.

At 3am on 17th October, I went for a pee and already had a blood show. I woke Love up for second opinion, wore a pad and the blood show continued until we woke up at 6am. I asked Love, "Should we go to work today?"

Love asked, "Do you think Khaira will come out today?"

I said, "If you asked me, I think yes, she's ready to come out today."

So we decided to take a leave, mild surge like period pain came every now and then, surges were not yet regular, we could not even time them yet. Had a heavy breakfast and lunch because I felt REALLY hungry that day. Nesting instinct?

Love was really sick on that day, he had a throat infection that already infected his tummy. Went to a clinic to get his MC. I got a bit worried by then.

During lunch at 2pm (by this time Mum and Dad kept asking me to go to the hospital), the surge started to get regular. Around 5 minutes apart and each surge lasted for about 40seconds. I decided to stay at home as long as possible, so I took my gym ball and bouncing up and down until the surge got more frequent.

Then the surge started to get as long as 2 minutes for 2 more minutes apart. We packed our stuff and decided to take a slow drive to the hospital at about 3pm. Love stopped by a stall to get me some fresh coconut to keep my amniotic fluid sufficient so Little Khaira will be comfortable inside. So thoughtful.

As we arrived to the hospital at 4.30pm, waited for admission, the surge got stronger. I went inside the labor room at 5pm, midwife did the VE and I was sooo disappointed to know that I was only 3cms dilated by then. 3cms? How could that be possible. I thought I would at least be 7cms dilated by then. I was expected to deliver the next morning, argh!!

Midwife asked me whether I wanted to go home, or I wanted to be admitted, I said I wanted to be admitted to the ward because I had a feeling I was gonna birth at a near time.

Then after the 20minutes of annoying EFM where I couldn't move an inch to adjust my position so that surge would have less sensation, a doctor came to do the VE again. A new doctor, apparently our gynae was on leave. :( So all the birth plan that we were working for, sigh..

Anyway, it was about half an hour after the first VE, and I was already 6cms dilated! Theoretically, you'll be dilated 1 cm every hour. Alhamdulillah, theory is just a theory after all. So they said they expected me to give birth at 9pm today, I was already in labour, I had to stay inside the labour room.

I resisted all the pain relief. No epidural, no injections, no laughing gas, etc.

The pain which was then bearable, became way full of sensation at that time. Almost no gap in between. My source of strength is next beside me, Love was there throughout the delivery and he was everything and more than I could asked for. Alhamdulillah. I am so blessed. He helped me in ways even a healthy person would not be able to help. May Allah SWT bless you, Sayang.

Tried to bear, but at about 6.40pm, I felt a really strong sensation to breathe down. I asked Love to call the nurse. Midwife came and I asked her to check on me, she put on her glove and just about when she wanted to do the VE, I saw her reaction; surprised and started caling the doctors and the nurses.

"OMG. You were so quite!" The midwife said. Apparently, I was already fully dilated!!

With the first breath, baby's head already crowning. And at the fourth breath, Little Khaira was out to this world, not a single cry, eyes wide open at 6.55pm, 2.7kgs. Alhamdulillah :)

Love managed to capture the video of the birth, which I will upload in the near time. Don't worry, it's PG. You'll be surprised at how calm and how easy Little Khaira was born :) Thank you for all the prayers.

Raya 2011 :)

2011-10-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

Raya has been super fun for me.. Alhamdulillah, once again I had the chance to meet my 'life'..

And we have a new addition in my in law's family this year..

Kak Izrin! Missing in the pic, sister-in-law currently in Korea. But, she called me that Raya eve, so.. tadelaa sedih sangat.

Went to quite a lot of open houses this year. Among the most interesting one is Esan's open house. We were in the same Mandarin class back then, and we were HUGE fans of Upin Ipin. Was excited for his open house to meet his adorable daughter, Zafreen!!!

Finally, got the chance to bring Love over to my uncle's house; who owns some sort of farm.

Happy to see that Love and my family / cousins are getting closer and closer each day. My little cousin, Danish was excited upon seeing Love's new Liverpool jersey, he changed to his jersey too..

I got the chance to meet my friends from all over the world this Raya. Rezeki pregnant mummy, everyone got to see my tummy.

I'm glad I had the chance to meet BFF Qdin who came back to Malaysia for a couple of days during Raya.

Met Fai who came all the way from Aberdeen.

Met Go San, Love's friend from Japan.

Met my soulmates..

Catch breakfast with FJoe, whose sister-in-law just gave birth inside her car!!Btw, my new favourite breakfast spot has got to be Subang Ria!

Met my relatives a lotttt!! :) Just last weekend mum threw a small kenduri doa selamat for my delivery. My younger brother threw a surprise by sponsoring a birthday cake for me; a yummy carrot cake!

Aaahhhhh.. I miss Raya already. Raya haji tak besh! I'll be in confinement, tak dapat makan rendang, bwekk!!

Just so you know, I ate A LOT throughout Raya, from the first week of Raya until now, I gained consistently 1 kg each week.. Gemokkkk!!! So, if you're wondering how much I gained as of now, it's 12 kgs altogether ok. Benci. Maximum I can gain is 12 kgs. Dah max out!!!! Tamau makan Obimin lagi, gemokkk!!!

The things he did for us

2011-10-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Little Princess,

I just want you to know about some of the things Daddy sacrificed for us, even way before you were born..

1) During my morning sickness, he would bath me, feed me, massaged me, cleaned me up eveytime I vomited.

2) He went to Hypnobirthing class with me, minding the distance and the fees.

3) He was with me in EVERY monthly (and now weekly) check up; just to get a glance of you. And today, with the new gynae, we finally had the chance to see your face, and your tiny little fingers and toes. May Allah SWT bless our gynae.

4) He came up with brilliant brilliant slides of hypnobirthing for me to refer to.

5) He would monitor my foods, my drinks, what I should and should not eat. And Alhamdulillah, I am as healthy as a horse now.

6) He prayed for us everytime after prayers.

7) He cancelled a 12 hours concert (which ticket he already bought) that he so wanted to go, just for us.

8) He put his dream Alfa on hold, just for us.

9) He fight for the natural birth that I wanted.

10) And most importantly, he supports us both physically and mentally.

You're safe around him, Little Princess. WE are safe around him. He has so much love to provide us. Just when I thought he gave us enough, there are more and more love coming from him.

I can't thank you enough, Sayang. It's one of the many many days I feel so blessed having you as my husband, and most importantly having you as a father of our Little Princess :) 143.

Our new gynae :)

2011-10-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah..

Introducing our new gynae..

Dr. Khamsiah Muda from An-Nur. She signed our birth plan, yay!!!

What a happy happy day knowing Little Princess will be delivered by a Muslim female doctor at a Pusat Rawatan Islam.

Alhamdulillah, as I said I have faith Allah SWT will help us along the way.

The appointment this morning was fruitful, smooth sailing, exciting, and calming. Dr. Khamsiah's direction is the same as us, to have as natural birth as possible.

I feel so blessed (T_T).

List of doctors that support hypnobirthing

2011-10-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

I am in my 37 weeks of pregnancy, and after what took my previous gynae a month to study my birth plan, she rejected it without negotiation. How would you think it makes me feel?

I was crushed. I put a very high hope on her, I did not have any back up plan. My BIGGEST mistake.

So just a couple of weeks (or days maybe?) before my delivery, I felt as if I was at the end of the tunnel. Sad. Devastated.

Then I received a message from a friend of mine, Kdy, suggesting me to get the support from a gentle birthing group in facebook. I did so almost immediately, and asked them about my current situations and on what I should do.

The responses were overwhelming, I nearly cried. They were so supportive of my situations and it's calming to see that there are actually a lot of mothers that fight for their natural birth just the way I want mine to be.

You know how many times I got laughed at.. at the thought of having a homebirth. At the thought of resisting epidural. Even at the thought of having vaginal birth because of the size of my body. So. Not. Funny.

Anyways, here I am, sharing you the list of doctors that support natural birth in KL/Selangor area after being suggested by the very supportive mommies out there..

1) KPJ Damansara specialist - Dr. Maziah
2) An-Nur, Bangi - Dr. Khamsiah
3) Pantai Bangsar - Dr. Choong Kuo Hsiang, Dr. Wong Sum Keong
4) Gleneagles - Dr. Teresa Chow, Dr. Ravi, Dr. Jean Woo
5) Columbia Asia, Cheras - Dr. Haw
6) KPJ Seremban - Dr. Subramaniam
7) Sunway Medical - Dr. Wong Chin Yuan
8) Tropicana Medical Center - Dr. Dev Menon

Sedih.. satu orang je doktor Islam yang support natural birth? Sigh..

I'm currently fixing appointments to meet these mesmerizing gynaes. Pray for the best. And to everyone that helps me get through this hard time, may God bless you. They are all beyond repayment. THANK YOU.

I especially love this comment, "there is light at the end of the tunnel. when you want something so badly, the whole universe will conspire with you to achieve it, insyaAllah. so glad you found this group, asyikin. must just simply mean the universe is working with you to achieve the normal gentle birth for you and hub. :)"

The time I needed them most

2011-10-03T18:16:00.000-07:00

No gossips.

No work related chats.

Just LOVE!

Thank you guys, such spontaneous plan (TQ Fiah!), but at the time I needed you guys the most.

Connected..

2011-10-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Little Princess,

The moment I wrote you this letter, I was at the lowest point of my life since I have you in my tummy.

Our gynae finally made a decision about our birth plan.. She firmly rejected it without willing to negotiate even a little.

As you know Little Princess.. I want you to be born as natural as possible.. Now I even have the thought of birthing you at home with daddy. But, I'm not as courageous yet. So the best thing we can do, Little Princess, is to wait as long as possible at home. We must work together; you, me and daddy as a family.

Tell me when you're ready to see the world, then only we take a very slow drive to hospital ok.

If you decide it's best for you to birth in the car, daddy and I are totally ok with it. Whatever best for you. Whatever best for us, Dear God.

As for now, we have to be more connected k, tell me when you're ready.

We're doing this for a good cause Little Princess, Allah SWT will help us along the way. Just have faith.

IBW, with love.

Crossing off the 6th items of the year

2011-09-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

Trust me, it's sooooooooooo hard to convince Mum of the fact that I want to get her a maid.

With Little Princess coming up, and I haven't yet used of having one super large tummy to even iron my own clothes comfortably, what more cleaning up my dusty room, I have no other options.

I want a maid for Mum to help her with housework when Little Princess pops out very soon. (She's been telling me that she'll take care of my children looongggg before I plan for one).

I know she is a superwoman already, but it wouldn't hurt to relax a little.. Now that Love and I afford to do so. (I have to thank Love for being so supportive mentally and financially ;p about the maid thingy!)

I decided to start slow. If full time maid seems way too hard for her, I decided to try with part time maid first.

Today is her first day with us. The moment I got home this evening, I was already super excited with the super duper clean house and ohh.. my room!! Lantai sangat licin!

And Mum? She seems happy.

I guess if you don't have that much time to help someone with something, the next best thing is to get someone else to do that something for her.

So, crossing off the 6th "To achieve list of the year". Three more to go, looking good, insya Allah. Ameen. I have faith.

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

2011-09-27T18:50:00.000-07:00

"By morning, you'll be gone.."

One of the quote from my super favourite movie of all time..

If you haven't yet watched the movie, it's about a woman named Clementine who underwent a procedure to erase her ex boyfriend, Joel from her memory after they broke up. Frustrated, Joel decided to do the same thing, but only to find out that as the memories faded away, he was still so much in love with her. Once they erased each other in their mind, somehow they had a history that neither remember and they met each other again at Montauk and fell in love all over again without knowing they were a couple back then.

Sweet gils! But almost impossible.

How could you erase something from your mind that easily?? I would be happy to erase every bad memories in my mind if there exist such procedure! Haha!!

One important thing I've learned in my Hypnobirthing class is how to let go of the past. Our subconcious mind works very much like a kid. All the memories that we have are like pages in books which we can tear and just burn the pages that we are not fond of.

I know I sound funny.

But I belived that Allah SWT gave us such powerful brain which we have the ability to control.

So, I have just teared every sigle not-so-beautiful memories I've had. And I feel so much in peace now.

Calmer but wiser :)

Maternity whiteroom photoshoot

2011-09-24T22:01:00.001-07:00

Facial.. check.

Hair treatment.. check.

Whiteroom photoshoot.. check!!

At 35 weeks, I can still wear my wedding ring. Alhamdulillah, my hands and feet are still of the same size :)

More pictures coming up!!

Thank you Hareez Hafni of Tampak Karya. We love them a lot!!

Competent!

2011-09-22T01:26:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah. 5 days of stressful training. Endless homeworks and reports. Sleepless nights going through with Love on the difference between "Lecturing" and "Training".

At last!! After I gave my training just now, my assessor finally said, with a wide smile, filled of satisfaction..

"COMPETENT! You've set a high standard for the rest of the participants!"

Wheee!! With such chaotic week, this has got to be the happiest day of my life this week.

And it will get better and better, I know.

Thank you, Sayang!!! You make it happen!! :)

Name for Little Princess!!

2011-09-21T01:14:00.001-07:00

The deal goes like this..

If she's a girl, I'm gonna pick the name for her.
If he's a boy, Love is gonna decide the name for him.

So, since this sweetheart is a girl, my first thought was "Yay! I can choose a name for her!"

After a while, I figured that this is tougher than what I thought!

Of course, we want the best name for our kids. But who are we to decide what is best for them?

The best I could do, is try my best to find a beautiful name for this Little Princess.

I have two rules in finding the name though:
1) It must be of TWO syllables; eg. NU.RUL.
2) It must be of a good meaning in ARABIC.

So, I googled for ~~days~~ ~~weeks~~ months, until I found a name that I fell in love so deeply with.

MYSHA.

Such a nice name right.

The website states that the origin is Arabic. Since most of my colleagues are Iraqi and since Dr. Sumay can converse a little in Arabic (Ameen!!), I asked around and it turned out that it is not Arabic at all!!!!

I got so disappointed and tried googling some more but I did not find a "WOW" name.

One day I decided to look up at my mum's room for a book she used when she decided to give me my name.

That was when I found a name I fell for. Checked with my friends and confirmed that it is an Arabic word. But was still a little reluctant because Love was more keen to give Little Princess the name of my late great grandmother.

Until last Friday, while reciting Surah At-Taubah, I stopped at verse 88 and found that particular name that I have decided in that verse.

The translation:

But the Messenger, and those who believe with him, strive and fight with their wealth and their persons: for them are (all) good things: and it is they who will prosper.

Sometimes, Allah SWT gives you a sign right in front of your eyes, but you don't even see it. This time around, I would like to think it's a sign, but wallahualam..

And here goes, we have a name for Little Princess.

Cepat sape nak teka!!

Ohhh.. anyway, I have a whiteroom photoshoot this Saturday! Yay!!

Look what we bought for the photoshoot.

Gahhh!!!! Comelnye dress budak perempuan sekarang! Baru faham perasaan BFF Maria ;p

Rebellious

2011-09-19T17:39:00.000-07:00

When people accused you for something that you did not do, what would you do?

Some people just ignore..

Some people just give in..

Some people fight back..

Being rebellious, I normally just do whatever I've been accused of doing at the first place.

When I said I didn't do it, I didn't. If someone keep making accusation that I did it, well they're the one who asked for it ;p

They said the first child is always the rebellious one! (*Covering my whole perut so that Little Princess will not read this post*)

Always the quality that matters..

2011-09-19T00:22:00.000-07:00

Manipulative.

That's the kind of person that I hate most.

If you think you could talk to me about MY friends behind their back, you obviously have no idea who I am.

And if you think I would talk about YOU behind my back, you are not even my friend to begin with.

I work as simple as that.

I have been living the past 25 years of my life without anyone manipulating me, I would be happy to continue doing so for the rest of my life..

JUST with those who believe in me as much as I believe in them.

Make an adjustment

2011-09-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

Been busy with a cousin's wedding these past two weeks.

Last Saturday night was the groom's reception. But nope, I'm not here to talk about the beautiful wedding (the wedding was beautiful, btw) or the gorgeous bride (and the bride was stunning of course). I'm here to talk about the speech of the father of the bride.

Congrats Abang Riza and Fasya!

Many times I either get bored or get all teary by the speeches during weddings.

But, this is the first time I found a wedding speech that is truly inspiring.

My uncle started his speech with how languages differ these days. Back then, he said 'gay' means 'happy', 'ass' means 'donkey', 'chick' means 'a newly hatched bird', 'cock' means a 'rooster' and 'straight' means 'a line that is not bent'.

But now, with the new technology and all, everything differs. Even his two year old grandson brings ipad everywhere he goes now. And the languages, of course differ.

In my uncle's visits to 25 high schools in KL, he asked the headmister/headmistress if they know the meaning of "LOL!"

Only 1 out of 25 knows the meaning of "LOL"..

We often thought teachers were the ones that can touch the heart of the youngsters better and here the reality sits in, they don't even speak the same languages.

So the moral of the uncle's speech to his son is to "Make an adjustment" to the son's kids when they have one later. It's going to be a different world apart, us and our kids, and we are the ones that need to make the adjustments to adapt to them.

And it hits me, really hard that the simple speech can actually make me cry.

How many times in my teaching life, I've been complaining of not understanding my student's emails or smses. Bigger things, their attitudes per say. And I kept on comparing how I was not treating my lecturer that way back in my studying life.

When the truth is, I am not willing to make any adjustment at all to actually reach them...

Little Princess, I will try to make an adjustment for you k, anything it takes. ♥

Cheer up!

2011-09-12T03:24:00.000-07:00

It's the final week of the semester, and next week is the beginning of a new one.

Stuck in another ~~annoying~~ bearable training. Don't get me wrong. The trainer was ok, I guess I had the best trainer in the world back at home, so my expectations were kinda high. Such a 'happy' week to begin with.

Sigh..

As for now, quick update to cheer me up! I just wanna say..

Thank you Love, for the sweetest and the most thoughtful gift of all time.. No gift can ever come this close. You crossed one of my to achieve list 2011 :)

And that..

My current obsession..

Awww!! Aunty loves you a lot, little ones!

Who's paying?

2011-09-06T18:11:00.000-07:00

I guess the most awkward moment on the first date/the first purchase after married is determining who's paying for that purchase.

Maybe not everyone seems to be particular about the matter. But, I did.

Does it make me materiallistic? You judge.

The first date is important for me to analyze a guy. And, as a gentleman, I think the guy should pay for the first date. The dates after, I prefer to take turns on paying.

Personally, I hate 'dutch'. For me it's either I'm paying or you're paying. And for me, 'dutch' seems like you're ignoring the concept of sharing from the very beginning.

As a woman, I love it when a man pampers me with gifts; just as much as I love pampering my man with gifts.

Does it make me materiallistic? Again, it is very subjective.

See, I come in a family where my dad surprises my mom with gifts every now and then when he's afford to do so. And vice versa. In our home, he has this principle of "Don't ask for something and don't wait until you're being asked." So everyone does what they should do, and everyone would be happy.

I found a man who is just like that.

The first year of our relationship, Love showered me with soft toys every monthsary.

Some people might think part of the reason I fell in love with him was because he pampered me that much.

But I fell in love with him because I saw the man that he was going to be. A very responsible husband in many aspects especially financially.

My prediction becomes true, Alhamdulillah.

And when you find a man like that, you no longer need him to splurge on you that much to show you he cares. You earn your own money by then after all. But being a gentleman, he'd still do that, anyway.

So my advise to women who are looking for serious relationship at this age, if he's not paying for the first date, MOVE ON! If you can't see the effort at the beginning of the relationship, what makes you think he puts an effort after you get married?

Just my 2 cents :)

Haji Shahrin Low @ Jalan Ampang

2011-09-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

I loveeeee Chinese Muslim food!!

I have been wanting to try Haji Shahrin Low for quite some times. So, I was more than happy when Hashir decided to have break fast gathering at the restaurant this year! Last year was at CPK, blogged all about it here.

My first impression of the restaurant was that it was too small. And the service was so-so. BUT, the food was sooooo sedap and cheap!!

See the bills, for 13 people and we ate until sangat2 full together with the yummiest dessert (Chinese pancakes) cost us only RM25 per pax!!

I especially love the Tauhu Telur Masin and Telur Masin Kw. Tau Meow. Yummy!!

Picture of us at Haji Shahrin, tade group photo this year.. :(

With Love and Mr. Organizer, Hashir

Nadia, Aini and hubby.

Raihan, Fadh and Ieja. Ieja looks adorable with hijjab :)

Jep, Farah, Faiz and Shameem!

After break fast, we went to Tutti Frutti for desert. The first time we went there, it cost us a bomb. So, this year, belajar dari Shameem.. dah pandai ambil berpada2. Cost us only RM6.. Red Velvet + Death by Chocolate :)

Had funnnn!! Hope to see you guys next year with Little Princess around!!~

Preparing for labor :)

2011-09-02T02:34:00.000-07:00

I seriously think it's too early to pack my hospital bag for labor. But Love didn't think so.

I love to prepare everything early, but this one kinda freaks me out. Haha! Mummy has not yet done my facial and my hair to meet you, Little Princess ;p Owh.. and the photoshoot. Don't even start with the mental preparation. Ugh!!!

Anyway, checklist for me..

♥ My birthplan (and a box of chocolate for the nurses)
♥ Toiletries (Dermalogica travel pack + tootbrush + toothpaste + listerine + shampoo + conditioner + deodorant)
♥ Nightgowns (perlu ke? Maybe I just bring some)
♥ My maternity pillow
♥ My small Quran
♥ Handphone charger
♥ Camera and charger
♥ My hypnobirthing materials
♥ Gym ball
♥ Socks
♥ Slippers
♥ Air zam zam and straw
♥ Maternity pads
♥ Disposable underwear
♥ Foods/snacks
♥ Undergarments
♥ Hospital pre registration paperwork
♥ Kain batik - TQ Kdy!
♥ Sweater - TQ Kdy!
♥ Breastpad - TQ Maria and Kdy!

Checklist for Love..
♥ Toiletries
♥ Clothes
♥ Comforter + pillows
♥ Extra cash (just in case)

Checklist for Little Princess..
♥ Long shirt and long pants
♥ Mittens and booties
♥ Receiving blanket
♥ Diapers
♥ Breast pump (just in case)
♥ Hats - TQ BFF Maria!
♥ Socks - TQ BFF Maria!

What else? What else? Help!

The best Ramadhan buffet 2011

2011-09-01T18:22:00.000-07:00

I wonder what was I thinking when I decided to work on Friday the week of Raya.

Yup, I need to save my leave so that I can have longer holiday after birth. BUT, seriously.. no air cond?! And they were only FOUR cars at the parking lot including mine. FOUR! And there was not even a single technician on standby!

Seriously, I'm gonna bore myself to death. Thank God, there's ~~internet~~ Little Princess to keep me occupied.

Anyway, Ramadhan is over. Alhamdulillah. I had three different buffets for iftar this year. One at Kelab Darul Ehsan (KDE), one at Seoul Garden and another at Sime Darby Convention Center.

I blogged about Seoul Garden here.

Buffet in KDE was so-so. With the price of RM50 per pax, KDE served mostly Malay food. The normal Nasi beriyani and such, fried kuey teow, yong tau foo, and I guess the specialty was Lidah Lembu (erk?)

Nothing special for me except the fact that we had our first buka puasa of 2011 with my in law's family.

But the best Ramadhan buffet this year, or rather I would like to think the best buffet I ever had in my entire 26 years of life has got to be the one in Sime Darby Convention Centre.

The food was good and a lot of variety. From Malay food, to Nasi Arab, to Chinese Dim Sum, to Sushi, to Pasta, to the fanciest dessert, wahhh!!

The ambience was good, the music was relaxing, access to Surau was easy.

And the companion was the best part. :)

My brothers, Love, my BIL, my dad, my BIL's father in law, and my father in law.

My MIL, my SIL's mother, my SIL, me and my mum.

With the price of RM70 per pax (early bird is only RM50), this one is definitely worth it! :)

Whee!!

2011-08-28T00:24:00.000-07:00

I feel so happy and at bliss at the moment.

Met my gynae for the first time yesterday. Discussed about our birth plan and she said she would get back to us on 1st of October. Hopefully everything is ok with it because I like her the moment I met her :)

And Alhamdulillah, again, position of the baby is perfect, head down. Size is perfect for my body - 1.6 kgs. Despite of fasting, my membrane is just nice for Little Princess.

Oopsss!! Did i say Little Princess? Yes!! She decided it's time to tell us!!! She's a blessed healthy baby girl! It's worth the wait!! I'm a happy mummy to be, both Love and I were actually very looking forward for a girl!~

Anyway, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri dearest. Forgive me for all the wrong doings - if my writings hurt you in any ways at all.

Have a blissful Raya! I know I will cuz it's just my favourite day of the year!! What not to like, the yummiest food, I get to celebrate it with my lovely family once again, with the Love of my life and with our Little Princess inside my tummy!! Alhamdulillah :)

The first letter to my baby

2011-08-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

Dearest Little Precious,

On the way to office today, I suddenly had the urge to write to you, as talking to you did not feel enough. And yes, I found it cheesy, but the only two people that I would be cheesy with in this whole wide world is you and Daddy. ;p

Anyway, I was not at the best of my health today. I am not sure whether it's the ordinary Braxton Hicks or you are giving me some funny positions again inside my tummy, but I am cherishing this moment. 2 months from now, I know I'm gonna miss the feeling of your tiny little hand/feet scratching the inside of my tummy when Daddy did so.

2 months from now, both of us need to work together for your birthing. I am so happy and really look forward for it! I have trust in you in ways I couldn't explain, it makes me feel so secure to go into labor. Probably because of all the vivid dreams about you throughout the pregnancy.

As for now, please be in the easiest position for me to birth you. I am going to take care of my food so that your size is perfect for my body. When you birth easily and I'm healthy, Insya Allah.. I can take better care of you. And Baby, please pray so that I can breastfeed you exclusively for at least 6 months.

We have so many plans involving you when you're around. We are going to go to Bali when you're 5 months old! Yay! Life outside the womb is such a happy place, LP.. And everyone is going to be so excited to meet you! So please, come out when the moment is right for you and come out safely and gently :)

IBW!

Gathering of the babies :)

2011-08-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

BFF Maria and I used to work at Nando's Maluri for about 6 months after SPM, while waiting for our classes to start.

A lot of memories there.

Love used to wait for me for about 3 hours; waiting for me to have my break so that we could have lunch together, every week without fail, such a sweetheart.

Pedot used to come during my night shift and waited outside the restaurant just to catch things up.

And when Pedot suggested Nando's as our gathering place for break fast to "bring up the old memories", I was psyched!

Imagine how excited I was to see these gorgeous..

Amir and Umar.

Sofea.. *Melt*

It was fun because the rest of my circle of friends are not yet married, so hanging out with SABians gave me a different feeling since most of us either already having or expecting a baby.

And looking at BFF Maria just inspires me, kalau dah ada baby nanti I can still hang out with my friends without problem pon. BFF Maria did it ultimately well.

So, iftar next year, we need to find a more comfortable place. Nanti ada 4 strollers to put and one high chair to be booked for dearest Amir. Sorry, Uncle and Aunty lupe nak book a seat for Amir.

Some of the pics from yesterday's event..

Missing in the picture.. Ain who was busy taking care of Amir yang tengah mengamuk nak main musical car.

My fav. pic of the day..

Proposal defense

2011-08-19T02:21:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah :)

I went to my viva presentation, eh silap.. proposal defense today with two main objectives:

1) To impress the examiners.
2) To be impressed by the examiners.

Bring it on! I'm half way there!

And i have achieved both :)

I am at the best of my mood today!! And even more excited to do my PhD, I have faith in my project, I'm just plain happy!!!!~

Happy to receive such brilliant suggestions from my examiners.

Happy to have two official supervisors that push me to the edge and pull me back the time I needed that.

And happy to have one unofficial supervisor who spent the night to go through my slides and my way of presentation in ways a teacher could have never done so.

I looked up to these 3 people equivalently much, though the unofficial ones has not yet hold a PhD or a Master degree, but the skills he taught me is beyond repayment.

Thank YOU..

simply for telling me that I have flaws. :)

Seoul Garden @ OU

2011-08-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Break fast at Seoul Garden, OU yesterday.

I tried Seoul Garden before, I didn't quite fancy the food there. I so much prefer Yuen's Steamboat, cheaper, yummier and better options.

But the company was superb and ok la, got grill also kan.. so RM47 per person was worth it.

I honestly think it's funny to name the restaurant Seoul Garden, makes you think it's a Korean dish kan. Haha! IT'S NOT!! Tak rasa Korean dish at all.

You wanna see the real Korean dish, I will update the pics next week since this Saturday MIL made Korean dish for break fast, wheeeee!!!! I can't wait!

Anyway, some pics with my dearest from yesterday's event..

With Myra, Nadrah and Iza Lyana.

Love with Hashir, AG, Hisham and Shariz.

My only one.

Hope this will be our tradition from now on. As compared to last year's break fast at Lala Chong, we missed Nonee this year :( but I hope we won't missed anyone else next year. Because I just heart each and everyone of ya! ;)

Have you tried talking to her?

2011-08-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

This was part of my conversation with my BFF after what seemed like the longest time since we talked to each other.

Me: So, how's your relationship with your gf?
Him: Macam biaselaaa.. Not looking good.
Me: Ahh.. Don't think about it much, things are gonna get better.
Him: I don't think so. See.. (The conversation went on about some general issues with the gf whom I never even met, so tak dapat nak judge).
Me: So, you're gonna give up just like that?
Him: It's happening too many times already, Ikeen!
Me: Have you tried talking to her?
Him: Urm.. Not really..

ADOI!

I'm not saying that I'm an expert in a relationship or I'm a Dr. Love like that, but I just wanna talk about what everybody knows already by now - how important communication is in the relationship. To remind my own self as well.

I don't believe that when you meet your better half, you can click just like that.

Relationship needs effort.. and time.

You have to make a mistake to know that it is a mistake. And for you to know that it is a mistake, you need a mirror a.k.a your better half. The task of a partner is to honestly tell you, this is something wrong with you, I don't like it, do something about it.

And you might not follow 100% what your partner said (else you'll be losing yourself), but somehow with A LOT of effort, and of course time, you guys will meet half way.

Love needs a lot of toleration.

And love is a life-long learning process altogether.

I've been together with my husband for almost a decade now and still discovering new things about him every now and then.

Still merajuk and memujuk every now and then, and have gazillions fun along the way.

For you to have your partner communicates with you, you must be ready to listen.. and of course understand.

One thing I've learned in the relationship is that if you cannot handle the harsh truth, don't ask! Accepting what your partner tells you would be sufficient at the moment.

Walking away without communicating is simply harsh..

But then again, if your better half walks away from you it just means one thing..

The partner doesn't love you that much to work it out.

And love is one thing that we could never force.

For that, I am thankful for the people I loved and the people that love me :) Alhamdulillah.

Thank God It's Friday!

2011-08-12T07:25:00.000-07:00

The first time I tried TGI Friday's was on Valentine's 2005, with my soulmate back then.

I remember everything so vividly since it was a perfect date. I guess it was our first fancy date together, and he got me a rose afterwards and before we got back, we strolled along the road staring at the wonderful lights that shower the night.

I was in love.

We were in love.

I remember how I was pampered and loved and I used to say to myself, it would be nice to be married to someone that was as intellectually stimulating as him.

At TGI Friday's in 2005

6 years plus down the road, I visited TGI Friday's for the second time.

With the same soulmate.

And it was a perfect date. The food, the service, and most of all the company :)

I was in love.

We were in love.

And I am still being pampered and loved more and more each day. I feel like saying to the world, "Hey peeps, we're married.. finally".

Love with BBQ beef sandwich, oh so yummy!

Me with my Chicken Fajitas Nachos, pon sedap!!

Mini desserts; 3 for RM10.50. We chose Snickers, Oreo and Mocha Latte. The best has got to be Mocha Latte!!

Preparing for the birth of my baby :)

2011-08-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

11 more weeks to my EDD, can you believe it??

Finally you're coming to us, Little Precious!!! Insya Allah.

I'm about to have the biggest battle of my life so far, the best achievement, and yes.. I'm more than excited to prepare for the birthing of you, Little Precious!!

To do list for the third trimester (Insya Allah, I can do these)!

1) Routine pregnancy exercise.. (Paused for a while due to Ramadhan, insya Allah akan berdisiplin after Ramadhan!)

Love's favourite exercise, Angry Cat a.k.a Gelimat (as what he called it)

2) Do a lot of walking, my aim is to walk the whole Taman TAR every weekends. 2 km a day!! After Ramadhan, ok!
(Note: Walking is good for toning your muscles and improve your posture)

3) Sit on my gym ball for better posture. Bought it last weekend and used it everyday now!
(Note: Sitting on gym ball will give the most optimum position for your baby!)

RM 17.90 at Tesco for 55cms diameter, for petite like me!

4) Drink young coconut water everyday - no ice, no sugar. Alhamdulillah, progressing good these past three weeks.
(Note: Young coconut water can replace your membrane)

5) Eat virgin coconut oil (VCO) capsule everyday.
(Note: VCO helps to ease the labour process.)

RM32 for 60 capsules at HPA.

6) Recite Surah At-Taubah, Surah Yusuf, Surah Luqman, Surah Maryam and Surah Yasin as much as I can. Tips from a friend that had a really easy birth ->; Recite Yasin everyday starting from the 9th month :)

Watch this youtube video ->; Man Natural Submission. Very inspiring!

7) Drink air selusuh. This can be done by hubby dearest and is best done on Air Zam-zam. Boleh beli kat PKNS Bangi for RM10 per bottle.

8) Drink air akar fatimah. (Got this from my uncle whom recently got back from Umrah).

9) Practice my breathing and relaxation technique.

10) Listen to HypnoBirthing CD everyday.

11) Minta maaf kat semua orang esp. student2 yang selalu kena marah. Hehehe..

12) Recite doa for an easy birth. Ehem.. ehem.. Dr. Sumayyy...

13) Rub organic olive oil to the whole body - at east twice a day after bath. (So far my skin stays the way it was before pregnancy, I personally think olive oil is waaayyy better than Bio Oil or Cocoa Butter. I tried them both, btw. Kalau nak cantik, haruslah istiqamah dan berdisiplin. Hee..).

Gambatte ne!

Hypnobirthing - Our birth plan.

2011-08-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, Love and I managed to prepare our birth plan!! Alhamdulillah.

Now to find the right doctor to acommodate all these. Insya Allah. Ameen. Doakan we get the best doctor, midwife and nurses.

Sharing our birth plan as a reference..

During 1st Stage Labor

ENVIRONMENT
• Quiet room, dimmed lights
• Drawn drapes/closed door at all times
• Allow to take photos and videos of birth

HOSPITAL ADMISSION
• Return home if less than 4 centimeters dilated and other factors do not warrant admission
• Decline routine IV prep upon admission.
• Decline discussion on pain tolerance & levels

MOBILITY
• Change positions for comfort & progress in labor
• Freedom to walk & move
• Fluids & light food if labor is prolonged

FETAL MONITORING
• No continuous EFM unless medically necessary

PAIN RELIEF OPTIONS
• No suggestion of anesthetic/analgesics unless requested

INDUCTION/AUGMENTATION
• Natural oxytocin stimulation – nipple/clitoral stimulation – and to be accorded with uninterrupted privacy to do so
• No Pitocin/amniotomy without discussion
• To be fully apprised & consulted before introduction of any medical procedure

VAGINAL EXAMINATION
• Minimal – with permission – to avoid premature release of membranes

During 2nd Stage Labor

PUSHING TECHNIQUES
• Allow natural birthing instincts with HypnoBirthing breathing down until crowning takes place.
• Gentle encouragement during final pushing stage without loud “pushing” prompts
• Assume a birthing position of choice that will least likely require an episiotomy.

PERINEUM
• Episiotomy only if necessary and only after consultation.
• Local anesthesia for repair of tears/episiotomy.

BIRTH
• Use of suction device rather than forceps if medically necessary
• Father will announce sex of baby to mother.
• Wait until cord stops pulsating. Father will cut the cord.
• Immediate skin-to-skin contact, with baby on mother’s stomach. No wrapping of baby.

PLACENTA DELIVERY
• Spontaneous or encouraged with breast stimulation and nursing baby
• No cord traction, Pitocin or manual removal of placenta unless there is evidence of excessive postpartum bleeding (45 minutes allowance of natural placenta delivery)

FOR BABY
• Bright lights temporarily removed during birth & until baby is moved to mother’s chest
• Allow vernix to be absorbed into baby’s skin; delay cleaning/rubbing
• Baby to remain with mother & father for the 1st hour after birth.
• Breastfeeding only. No bottle, formula, pacifier.
• Delay use of Erythromycin or other salve for baby’s eyes to allow optimal sight for bonding.
• Father will stay with mother and baby throughout the hospital stay.

The human manuals

2011-08-05T05:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wish there are specific subjects about human beings during my undergraduate/postgraduate.

Or, sometimes I wish each and every individuals I met came with a manual so that I know how to deal with them without cracking my brain.

Teaching engineering is a challenge, yup. But dealing with different kind of students from different part of the world is even more challenging for me.

You always need to check back with your expectations and boundaries.

But rather than obsessing about your own expactations or boundaries, I've learned that other people have their own expectations and boundaries themselves.

What some people might consider as unusual might just be a mundane to another people.

So I've learned that we cannot be too rigid with the expectations.

Then, the BIG question appeared, how much to give in before you start to lose yourself?

What is the ~~fuzzy percentage~~ (gile, i'm sounding geek) grey area between ok and not ok?

How I sometimes wish there is an answer for that question.

But life has no shortcut.

You have to learn the theory, then practice it in actual life to validate your theory and do a post mortem afterwards. You might need to fine tune here and there along the way. Macam buat research..

And I guess that is the reason why life just seems more and more interesting each passing day. Hhmmm..

Pureen warehouse and Parenthood Expo - July!!

2011-08-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with Pureen warehouse the first time I went there on April --> blog all about it here.

Super duper cheap and the price of the baby clothes were unbeatable. Last month, we went there again. Shopped for half an hour only since we already knew what to buy and in which section to get them.

This time around, they have more options. And baby clothes that we bought, ranges from RM1 to RM3. Murah kan? I'm so gonna go there over and over again.

Last weekend, we did the final shopping for our Little Precious at Mid Valley during Parenthood Expo. Been there on May, and this time around was not as exciting as the previous one. Blog about the previous expo here.

Clothes were not that cheap, but we managed to buy some stuff there. Most of the stuff is for me during confinement. Bengkung, tungku herba, etc.

Now, I can cross off most of the things in my baby's checklist.. Well, except for the optional stuff and the mattress.

The mattress we custom made it from this website --> BabyLyd collection. Suke bangat!

Anyway, let me share my mommy's checklist as below:

~~Nursing bra - x8~~
~~Washable bra pad - x8~~
Perineal cream
~~Bio oil~~
~~Maternity pillow~~
~~Maternity pad~~
~~Bengkung - x2~~
Jamu HPA
~~Socks~~
Pad herba (for the first week)
~~Tungku~~
~~Poncho (nursing cover)~~
Pilis
Mandi herba
Virgin coconut oil

Less than 3 months to go, bring it on!

Pasta Zanmai @ Mid Valley

2011-07-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

Love and I had lunch with Myra last Saturday to celebrate her belated birthday.

Never tried Pasta Zanmai before, so when Myra suggested the place, we immediately agreed.

I was a bit skeptical at first looking at the menu, Japanese-Western fusion food, so not appealing. But from my reading from several blogs, they said that the pizza was highly recommended, I tried July Special - Ebi Pizza (Pizza with lots of small prawns as topping) and oh my god.. it tasted like pizza with some dried shrimps, so horrible!

But Love's Unagi set was super duper nice. Though I was not a big fan of eel, that one was an exception.

Myra had some pasta which was nice also; price range of all the food varies from RM19 - RM 30.

Overall, I love the services and ambience. Food was good except mine. And the dessert was to die for!

To Mya: Happy belated birthday, we had super duper fun with you last Saturday.
To Love: Thank you simply for making what matters to me matters to you ALL THE TIME!

We heart Ikea!

2011-07-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

Spent a day shopping at Ikea for our new home last week..

Living room..

Dining area..

Kitchen..

Our home is almost complete :) By the time I'm done with my confinement, hopefully we can straight away move in with our Little Precious.

The best bargain in Ikea has got to be this 17 pieces set of container with the price of RM15 :)

Ikea rocks!

I cannot wait!!

2011-07-26T03:17:00.000-07:00

I was quite devastated for not being able to be with BFF Maria the day she delivered her baby.

The day she had a birth show (a day before baby's birth) was also the day Love had to outstation to Pahang and Melaka.

The day after the delivery was BFF Maria's birthday. And by 6pm that day, when Love still had work to do in Melaka, I became sooo sad. I did not know the route to BFF Maria's hospital and I really wanted to see her on that day.

Around 7.30 pm, Love called me up and told me that he just finished his work. And told me one thing that I would forever remember, "Sayang, kita akan pergi tengok Maria jugak k, I dah janji, whatever it takes, we'll see her tonight."

You know, sometimes it's not that hard to impress a woman.

Just by showing that you care about the stuff that she cares means the world to us.

Just by keeping your promises (even the smallest ones) keeps us safe and secure. And the affirmation is what we need to fall more and more in love with you guys.

It means more than whatever money can buy in this world, seriously.

At about 9.30pm, he picked me up and within half an hour we were there with this little princess..

When I looked at this angel, I couldn't stop imagining how my baby moved about the same way inside my tummy, how he/she opened her eyes, smiling like BFF Maria's little girl. Thinking about all that make me psyched, I can't wait!

I especially love this photo. See how her baby's eyes glued at the mommy.

All the time. She kept staring at BFF Maria even when BFF Maria was talking to us. The sweetest scene :)

With Love who was still wearing his work attire, poor thing..

Welcome to this world, Khaireen Sofea. Aunty loves you so much!

My last class of hypnobirthing

2011-07-24T19:09:00.000-07:00

I'm a hypnobirthing graduate!!!!!

Alhamdulillah. Completed all 5 classes. Two days ago, I asked my doctor to prepare a referral letter so that I can meet my specialist to discuss about hypnobirthing. At the same time, I had my 6th month checkup.

BABY STILL TAMAU TUNJUK DIA BOY OR GIRL!!!

But.. my baby's head already down there. Very nice position, Little Precious.. I'm proud of you!

My baby's position :)

All praise be to Allah SWT.

And I also have my hypnobirthing class to thank for. For teaching me the correct position as in below:

More info in spinningbabies.com.

Whatever position you're in, make sure your knee won't be higher than your hips and make sure you're not crossing your legs. Since baby's head should be down, when you block the path down there, you baby won't be comfortable and hence.. head will move somewhere else.

If your baby's position is not ok, try the posture above for more than 40 minutes a day, allow some time for your baby to correct back his/her position.

Once your baby is already engaged, squat for 40 minutes a day to lock his/her position.

The most optimum position for your baby is head down, face facing your butt and chin down so that she/he can give more pressure, thus easier to be birthed.

Some preparation that you can do to tone your body for birth:
1) Walking
2) Maintain a good posture
3) Pelvic rock (similar to 'Angry Cat' position in yoga)
4) Toning innner thigh and leg mucsles

5) Squatting
6) Pelvic floor exercises
7) Perineal massage

Also during labor, what we have learned in hypnobirthing is that you need the correct birthing position for your baby. Don't just lie down the bed, sometimes when you have sharp pain (pressure ok, pain is not a good sign), that means your baby is not in a good position. You have to move around to ensure that he/she is comfortable.

More on birthing position in "Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method" book.

Three days ago, I had a sharp pain above my tummy, just below my left breast for the whole day. By evening, I lost it. I tried all positions suggested by my pratitioner, not working. The sharp pain was still there, and minor Braxton-Hicks surge come and go.

Called Love, and he gave me one last resort that might be useful during labor if pain is still there.

After Asar prayer, I talked to my baby and told him/her that the position he/she was staying right now hurt me a lot. And if she/he mind to move a little. And just like that, the pain was gone.

Brilliant, Little Precious!

Now, goodbye and all the best to my hypnobirthing friends!

Love and I are hypnobirthing graduates. From a wife who was blur the time my doctor mentioned about estrogen and progesteron to someone who can talk about endorphin and oxytocin. From a husband who could not stand blood (what more to be there for me during labor) to a husband who is now confident to go through homebirthing. (I'm proud of you, Sayang!)

And for all this, Alhamdulillah.

May we have the natural birth that we seek for. Whatever best for us.

When YOU guide us to it, I know YOU'll guide us through it. Insya Allah.

YNWA!

2011-07-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

I am not a big fan of football. I still couldn't understand the term "offside" though Love explained to me too many times before.

But Love is a huge fan of Liverpool. One of his dreams is to watch Liverpool's match at Anfield. (One of my dreams is to see the pyramid in Egypt.. so not cool ;p)

So, when Liverpool came to Malaysia last week, I was more than excited to go with Love, knowing that it gave us positive vibes in achieving his dreams.

We went for the training on Thursday after work, such hectic traffics..

Hubby bangga gile he bought me this jersey!

And on Saturday, don't even mention ok. We parked all the way in Sri Petaling and I walked for 2kms to get to the stadium. Poor baby.. Kicking my tummy all the way, penat ye..

With sister in law and brother in law.

But, it was awesome. My first time experience watching football in the stadium.

Everytime Liverpool scored, the stadium cheered. And everytime Malaysia scored, the stadium roared like never before.

So, dear Mr. Rajagopal and Mr. Safee Sali, do know that you cannot measure patriotisme just by the cover. Though we were wearing reds, we rocked the stadium with "Inilah Barisan Kita" everytime Malaysia scored.

I had a lot of fun.

Until we meet again Liverpool, this time at Anfield :)

Budak ni semangat gile!

Hypnobirthing Class 4

2011-07-20T00:05:00.000-07:00

So, in hypnobirthing class 4, we've learned about hormones and massages.

Here, I share with you about the 2 most important hormones (hormone lain, belajar dengan Sifu Wai Han, ok?)

First is, Oxytocin. Or, we called it as the hormone of love. As the name suggests, those who are in love produce a lot of this hormone in their body. It's in your body when you're in love, when you make love, when you breastfeeding, etc. And the best thing about Oxytocin is.. (*Warning: I'm going to talk about some explicit content, 18sx here).. that when you have enough amount of Oxytocin in your body, it will expel something from your body.

Eg: When you make love, with sufficient amount of Oxytocin, you'll expel some discharge from your body. Men releases the semen, and women releases some discharge that I don't really know the name of, hehe.. Sorry! But, you get my point ryte? (Orang dah kahwin je boleh cakap yes).

When you're breastfeeding, you feel so much love for your baby, you will produce milk. Again, because of Oxytocin.

When you're in labor, your body produces Oxytocin also and what it will expel from your body is your sweet precious baby. So, you need sufficient amount of Oxytocin in your body the moment you're in labor.

How to get sufficient Oxytocin is sooo easy.

Make. A. Lot. Of. Love.

And please, don't waste the semen guys. It's good for both your wife and baby! ;p

The second hormone is Endorphin. We also call this as "Natural pain and stress fighters". It's your body's natural painkiller. It happens when you're excited and focused about something, and again when you make love or breastfeed.

Remember our cyclist, Azizulhasni Awang at the Trackcycling World Cup when a 10 inch wooden splinter stuck all the way through his leg after a crash and he kept on cycling to the end until he won a Bronze medal for that race?

What makes him that strong to ignore the pain in his leg? Endorphin!

His determination and focus to keep going to the end make his body produces sufficient Endorphin and that is what we need during labour. That can be achieved by practicing all the relaxation or hypnotizing techniques learned throughout the hypnobirthing class.

Of course, we also have synthetic Oxytocin and syntethic Endorphin during labor. The syntethic Oxytoxin is what we called as Pitocin.

Doctor uses this to induce you during labor. Pitocin does enhance surge, but that surge won't ensure dilation. There is no love in that fake hormone, how can it expel something from your body ryte?

The syntethic Endorphin can be found in all the pain reliefs available during labor. Epidural, anaesthetic, etc. And the downside of each pain reliefs, you can just read on the webs.

Even major problem is, when you inject syntethic Oxytocin or Endorphin into your body, you might inject more dosage than what your body needs. Of course, the doctor can't tell you for sure how much your body needs Oxytocin/Endorphin.

So, if you have excessive Oxytocin, you're gonna have less Endorphin. If you have excessive Endorphin, you're gonna have less Oxytocin. Meaning, if you induced, it hurts more. If you used epidural, you might have no dilation.

On the massages, there are two type of massages; deep massages and light touch massages.

Deep massages - done during surge; put pressure as in the picture..

Light touch massages - done in between surge; as in the video.. Touch very lightly, circle the arms and ears, massage the head..

The face of heaven :)

2011-07-19T23:54:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah, BFF Maria gave birth to a gorgeous baby girl at 8.33 am this morning!

Normal.

No epidural.

I'm soooooo proud of you, babe!

Sadly, Love is in Pahang currently (outstation, pfftt..) I can't wait to see BFF Maria and her Little Princess. Hopefully tomorrow.

It's BFF Maria's birthday tomorrow anyway!

Owh.. and as of today.. I'm in my third trimester, yay! Dah dekat! Kena banyakkan amalan!

Life is unpredictable

2011-07-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

July last year, about a year ago I blogged about Nenek's driver who was in a coma due to heart attack.

With Allah's will, after a couple of weeks, he woke up from coma and was so healthy that he could work with Nenek again.

During brother-in-law's wedding, he sent us to the bride's house and that was the last time I ever met him..

I received a phone call from Love at about 7pm just now telling that Nenek's driver already passed away. Innalillah.

My first thought was that, he passed away due to his heart attack.

Friday night normally was a guy's night out for Love. After work, he would go jamming with his friends until 10pm, then he would go for futsal, so I would only be seeing him after midnight.

Since he heard the news during jamming, he straight away went to Nenek's house without me and later update me with the news of how the driver passed away. Around 4pm, he rode his motorcycle home from Nenek's house and he was hit by a lorry.

How unpredictable life is. Just a year ago in the same month, he was in a coma because of something else.

And this year, he passed away due to something else.

Sedih. But Allah SWT loves him more, he passed away on Friday after all, penghulu segala hari, Alhamdulillah.

You know I can tolerate with a lot of thing. With the fact that my husband wants to spend time with his friends every Friday night. Or the fact that my husband always away for work.. Or the fact that he wants to spend his money on cars or guitars or PS3.. I would even let go of my beloved Savvy for his Alfa.

But one thing I would NEVER in a million year tolerate with is that if he wants a motorcycle. NEVER. Period. No discussion there.

In our relationship, I don't demand much from him. So, I hope this one thing that I asked, he can just understand. It breaks my heart SO MUCH everytime I heard about motorcycle. :(

Hypnobirthing Class 3

2011-07-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

In hypnobirthing class 3, basically we were enlightened with the hospital’s procedure upon our admission to birth our baby. Previously, I was so scared to know, but upon hearing all the details, I’ve learned that IGNORANCE IS SO NOT A BLISS! I want to be well educated before my delivery day so that Love and I will be the one making decision for the baby, not the doctor.

We discussed with our practitioner on the procedures and what we wish to avoid. We found the solutions as mentioned below.

Procedures once admitted:
-Change to their gown
-Electronic Fetal Monitoring (EFM) – To monitor the baby’s heartbeat
-Disadvantage: You cannot move about to find the most comfortable position for your baby during surge. If you don’t move about, surge will become painful.
-Our solution: EFM only periodically.
-Vaginal Examination (VE) – To check your dilation
-Disadvantage: Infection from the nurse’s fingers and accidentally rupture the membrane.
-Our solution: I don’t want any VE because I don’t see the advantages of me knowing how much I have dilated!!
-Enema - the procedure of introducing liquids into the rectum to evacuate the lower intestinal tract.
-As for now, I need to discuss with my doctor how to go about on this matter.
-Drip

Procedures before birthing:
-Induction

Why induction? Overdue.

What to worry about overdue? Every baby needs different time to be mature in the mommy’s tummy. Your little precious will definitely come out when he/she is ready.

You scared that your baby will be too big? Again, your baby will never be too big for your body to birth. Just have faith :)

You scared of placenta calcification (“aging” of the placenta) ? As long as baby is still moving even though you’re overdue, baby is still safe.

You scared of meconium (baby’s first stool inside your tummy )? Again feel the movement. Or check your membrane once it is released, make sure it is clear.

You scared that your amniotic fluid will run low/run high? The WHO standard for the thickness of your amniotic fluid is from 5 to 22 cm, but the doctor’s standards normally vary. So, if he/she said it is too thin/too thick, ask him/her how thick/thin it is. Whatever it is, your amniotic fluid varies all the time. So if it is running low, just drink a lot of water to make sure you are well hydrated. Best drink – young coconut (without ice or sugar).

You scared that your membrane is already released, but baby still do not want to come out yet? Again, just drink a lot of water to replace the water that is being discharged.

You scared of augmentation (Very slow progress of dilation)? You scared of being tired? Just rest. Labor slows down as you get tired. Don’t worry, your baby will take care of you if you take care of your baby. :)

-Pain relief
1) Epidural
2) Laughing gas (Enthonox)
3) Pethidine jab

You have variety of pain reliefs. Discuss with you practitioner beforehand on the advantages and the disadvantages of each options. Don’t just decide on the day itself, don’t just follow your doctor’s decision blindly. As for me, I pray so that I can have a natural birthing. But if in desperate cases, I think Laughing gas is the safest choice. Epidural is too risky for both mummy and baby.

Procedures during birth
- Caesarean
- Vacuum
- Forceps
Whatever other interventions, I pray I can have a normal birthing with the breathing techniques I've learned and mentioned in my previous post.

Procedures after birth
-Birth of your placenta; sometimes the doctor will pull out the placenta or jab you to enhance surges. But artificial surges do not ensure dilation. So just drink warm water after you deliver to help birth the placenta.

Procedures for babies
-Sigh.. I can’t bear to explain what some of them did to the newborn baby. I just want to be with my baby and Love for an hour after birth, no compromise.

To achieve all these, we have come out with our own “Letter of Agreement” to a doctor that can support all our demands.. Now, we’re in a hunt for a doctor that can understand and can be considerate with all these.

I have learned a lot from my hypnobirthing class. I strongly suggest expecting mommies and daddies to experience the class themselves. My explanations are definitely not enough to enlighten you guys.

Hypnobirthing rocks!

With those who believe in natural birthing :)

P/S: Please note that I am not a certified practitioner of hypnobirthing, I write based on my class and my experience. And if anyone with hypnobirthing experience feels as if some part of the article needs to be corrected, I truly appreciate any feedbacks. Thank you.

Let's grow old together..

2011-07-12T01:56:00.000-07:00

10 years ago, he sat next to me in class and we talked about our future..

Of how we wanted to grow old together, about our future sons, future daughters..

And who would have thought that future is here.

In 2009, his first child, Amir was born..

And now, presenting Hafiz's second child..

Umar :)

How time flies.

It feels as if just yesterday he sat next to me with all the talk about what we would be after high school, and now we're all that we planned for. Alhamdulillah.

How Amir looks like now.. (With Uncle Kapal, nanti Aunty dah bersalin, Aunty dukung Amir ok!)

Pregnancy is an epidemic. Lepas Maria, me, then Sya. Next, Fau?

I remember the song Hafiz and I dedicated to each other back then in Form 4,

"Say you'll stay forever,
You're so wonderful,
Forever for whatever"
(OAG - Forever for whatever)

And our forever is here, you guys!!! :)

Hypnobirthing Class 2 - Breathing and Relaxation technique

2011-07-08T02:21:00.000-07:00

What is surge?

Surge (or some might call it contraction) is the tightening and shortening of the uterine muscles during labor. Good news is that, it enchances the effacement and dilation of the cervix and contributing to the descent of the baby.

So, since surge is very important, we want to make sure we have the correct breathing technique in order to help us dilate more, and hence baby will be birthed faster.

In hypnobirthing class, we've learned three basic techniques of breathing.

1) Calm breathing.

It's basically the breathing you have when you are asleep. You use this in between surge. Breathe in at a count of 4 and breathe out at a count of 8 very calmly as if you're asleep.

2) Surge breathing.

Breathe in at a count of 20 and breathe out at a count of 20 very slowly, when you breathe, feel the air inside your tummy like when you are inflating a balloon. You use this during surge. I tried this during one of my Braxton Hicks surge, it helps :)

3) Birth breathing.

The most important breathing. You use this to breathe out your baby. Breathe in to your throat and without holding your breath, let it go down to your tummy and vagina, like a J shape. Best time to practice? Each time you have a bowel movement. Don't push your stool, breath it out, might take longer time to let it out than usual, but it wil come out eventually, more gently. It took me 3 toilets visit before I am satisfied with my birth breathing :)

Why breathe out your baby, why don't just push it out like the doctor asked you to?

1) Because we want to avoid any tear.
2) To save energy.
3) And pushing does not help you dilate more.

Other than the breathing techniques to help you with the surge, there are also relaxation techniques to help you ease the pain.

Basically, hypnobirthing taught you some deep relaxation techniques, where you'll be hypnotized so that you don't feel the pain during surge.

I guess on the relaxation techniques, it's better for you to read from the Hypnobirthing book itself, or better still.. learn from the practitioner so that she can check on your breathing and relaxation technique.

But, my advice is.. if you want to be hypnotized, you must allow yourselves to be hypnotized first. The rest can come easily. You are in charge of your own body. So far, I've managed to numb half of my body, I've managed to paralyze my leg, Insya Allah.. I'm confident for the labor.

Whatever it is, like any other things you've learned.. in order to be succesful you need a lot of practice. And that's just what I'm gonna do until the day I deliver Little Precious.

And in order for you to always remember what you've learned, I always believe in sharing. And hence, that is what I just did.

Doakan, the birth of my baby will be as natural as possible. Insya Allah. Ameen.

P/S: Please note that I am not a certified practitioner of hypnobirthing, I write based on my class and my experience. And if anyone with hypnobirthing experience feels as if some part of the article needs to be corrected, I truly appreciate any feedbacks. Thank you.

Women's true ambition

2011-07-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

Since I planned for three days of babymoon in Cherating, but Love couldn't make it cuz he just started working at a new company, I had two days leave all by myself.

On my first day of leave, I spent time at the hair saloon (Hedkandee, my favourite!), went shopping, cleaned the room and cooked for Love. On my second day of leave, I did my facial and body scrub at my favourite spa, Seputeh Kapas.

Then, I wonder.. is this how it feels like to be a housewife (K.. orang sekarang panggil WAHM - Work At Home Mum, nama glamour)?

If this is how it feels, goodness.. It surely feels GREAT!

And as much as I am so deeply in love with my job now, I am not planning to work like this all my life. As much as I've been wanting to be a lecturer almost my entire life, I have another ultimate ambition that has been motivating me to work harder all this while. Just like any other women..

I want to be a housewife.

With maid taking care of the house. Me spending time with my children (or shopping or spa while they are away), cook some fancy food and just wait for Love to come home with super ~~sexy~~ nice clothes. Bestnyeeeeee... (T_T)

Dreams.. How sweet.

And yet how all things started with dreams. All the things that I've achieved now. Alhamdulillah. The power of doa :)

I hope to retire early. (My supervisors are so gonna kill me after reading this statement. Gomennasai T_T) Not just retiring early, but I want to retire smart. There are of course things to achieve before I retire.

For me.
- I want a maid to do the cleaning once I retire, so that my full concentration is on Love and our children.
- I want my own Smart Reader or Qee Dees or Kumon (whatever education business will do, teaching is my life).
- I want a car that I will retire with, perhaps a red Mini Cooper S?

- I want some properties for my investment.
- I want to have enough income still every month for me to splurge on myself; spa, shopping etc.

For my parents and family.
- I want to still give them money monthly after I retire, RM2k monthly perhaps?
- ~~I want to buy them a car (very soon k, Mum and Dad)~~
- I want to bring them to perform Umrah or Hajj.
- I want to bring my whole family for an all sponsored vacation anywhere outside Malaysia.

For Love.
- ~~I want him to have his dream Alfa first.~~
- I want him to be ready both financially and mentally about me retiring.

For my future children.
- I want to have enough savings for their future.

For my career.
- I want to retire with the title of "Professor Nurul Asyikin" ;p

- I want my name to be well heard in my field (so that kalau bukak business later, people can trust my business).

A lot still to achieve, but I know Allah SWT will guide me through it.

So, in the mean time, what I need to do is work harder (for both my work and my PhD), save smarter (work more on my retirement investment) and most importantly seize this short time of working I have left.

Insya Allah. I just have faith :)

Hypnobirthing Class 2 - Falling in love with your baby :)

2011-07-04T00:09:00.000-07:00

I was not so keen of changes.

As for now, Alhamdulillah, I have everything that I wanted in life. A very supportive family, a husband whom I deeply in love with (and who love me that deeply in return), a good career, some amazing friends – just complete.

As evil as it sounded, I had this little fear that everything would not be the same once I birthed my Little Precious (LP).

I was not proud of the fact that both Love and I had very minimal conversation with LP.

At times, I wonder if LP could really understand or could even actually listen to me. Even worse, I did not even know what to tell LP since I could not see him/her physically just as yet. It felt like talking to yourself, it felt funny.

And I did not believe in love at first sight.

I had this doubt of whether I can love LP that much the moment I first met him/her. But, I swear my second class of hypnobirthing got me fell in love with LP in ways that I could not ever imagine I would.

There’s a story told by my practitioner where a man was hypnotized and he was back in the moment when he was inside his mother’s womb and this guy felt a moment of ecstasy since the mother was bragging about him.

And there’s a story of a 6 years old girl who was playing with her toy and replicating the exact same moment happened when she was being delivered; the position of her parents, the stuff inside the labour room, even the colour and position of the mom’s slipper.

For more information about it you can read this book --> “Babies remember birth”

Then, it hit me.. If I was to provide the most positive environment to my baby, it has to start from the womb. And the first time LP sees the world, I must provide him/her with the most joyful time so that LP’s first perspective of the world will always be all rainbows and butterflies.

You always remember the first time when you experienced things, right? It’s always there somewhere very deep inside our complicated mind.

I remember my first visit to Italiannies, when Love brought me to a very romantic date and everything was perfect. And everytime I visit Italiannies, that wonderful feeling just lingers. I know my baby will feel the same thing too, the first time he/she sees this world, sees me and Love.

I pray very hard so that I would be able to smile at my very last push in labor, ever so happy to receive my baby and Love would choose his very best Baju Melayu for the delivery. I want an hour of bonding time before the nurse take my baby to nursery. I want to hold my baby, look at him/her and talk to him/her with joy and love.

Last night, we whispered to the baby to give us a sign, “If you’re a boy kick once. If you’re a girl, kick twice."

LP kicked me non-stop each time we asked the questions. He/she listened eventually. I have never loved him/her that much at that moment.

And I’m so thankful that Allah SWT opens my heart to join this class, who knows how badly I needed it after all. :)

P/S: Little Precious, it really doesn't matter whether you're a boy or girl, just give us a sign whenever you're ready. :)

Juggling between Family, Love and Work Part II

2011-06-29T19:42:00.000-07:00

So that Sunday evening, Love and I went to Bukit Gambang for our babymoon.

Initially, we planned for a four days vacation, but since Love just started his new work at a new workplace, we had to cut short to a two days vacation.

We booked a Studio Suite at Bukit Gambang Resort City via Agoda that cost us around RM230.

I love the room..

We spent the whole evening just lazing around.

Had dinner at the cafe downstairs. Food was so-so. I had Caesar Salad (which still, nothing beats TGI Friday's), Love had Fish and Chips and we shared Crepe Suzette..

Bukit Gambang was such a boring place itself. Macam pekan mati at night.

And my pregnancy stopped us from visiting the Bukit Gambang Waterpark which was about 5 minutes drive from the resort itself.

But thank god for the entertainments inside the resort! They had Karaoke, pool, and the best thing is arcade!

Of course, nothing else matters when there is arcade downstairs. We played until we were the last person there that night and the first person the next morning. Habis splurge all the money since we could not spend on the waterpark.

Only have his picture while playing Time Crisis because I lose earlier.

Time Crisis bolehla, Daytona tak dapat ambil sebab Kapal yang kalah earlier ;p

The breakfast buffet was a bit frustrating though, caused me a food poisoning earlier on Monday morning, a few hours before my presentation at UMP.

Honestly, the worst conference (and the most expensive) conference I've ever attended. ;p

Whatever it is, I am happy that now I manage to cross off one of Love’s to do list for this year --> Domestic Honeymoon.

And like every trip we had, it just rejuvenates our relationship, take it to another level and thank god we’ve found our best travelling companion ever.

Next trip is to B.A.L.I!!!!

Juggling between Family, Love and Work

2011-06-28T03:01:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to bring my whole family to an all sponsored vacation since last year, so I saved up my last year's bonus and finally found a weekend where all 6 of us were free, and off we went to Cherating. :)

Why Cherating?
1) Mum has never been there.
2) I couldn't get enough of Cherating since our last visit.

We departed from KL after work on Friday and arrived at about 2 am. I booked a homestay so that all of us could spend the night together without having separate rooms (like the cases if we stayed in the hotel), and chalet are just not comfortable enough.

The homestay was cool, air conditioned, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fully furnished at RM150 per night. I booked for 2 nights. For more info of the homestay --> Damai Muslim Cherating.

All of us had the time of our lives..

At Turtle Sanctuary..

Lunch at Restoran Intan, all seafood lunch for 6 person cost me only RM193 :)

Cuba compare sudu dgn udang, udang dia besar gils!

Dropping by for Satar..

BBQing on Saturday night..

Ready to swim (dgn perot yg semakin membesar)

I have come to love this picture so so much..

At the time this picture was taken, Love was already deep asleep by my side..

My two brothers were laughing and talking non-stop like they haven't met each other for ages. (Honestly, people have got to stop asking me because I have no idea what they talked about most of the times).

Both of my parents were staring at the beautiful beach talking about the future of their future grandchild..

I was just lying around, feeling totally complete. Surrounded by my loved ones, and all I could hear was the sound of the waves and my own voice humming a very familar song.

One day, when I'm having my surge during labor, and I need to go in a deep relaxation, and you hear me hum "Sowewhere only we know", this is the place I go, a serene and beautiful place.

OMG! I so looooveeeee Cherating.

Anyway, we spent only 2 nights in Cherating with my family, another night is just for Love, I shall write it in my next entry!

Colour for your braces

2011-06-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

I guess the best thing about having braces is that I can always change the colour according to my mood.

So far I've tried Hot Pink..

Light Purple..

Black..

Royal Blue..

And currently I'm wearing Red :)

I've learned that lighter colours make my teeth looked yellow and my skin looked darker, I regretted light purple.

From Love's experience, he asked me to avoid white and yellow since they get dirty very fast.

I intend to try every other colours possible, then maybe have different colours for top and bottom or even different colours alternately like this..

Anyway, if you need help with braces colour selection, you might want to visit this very useful website..

I don't "try" things

2011-06-21T03:24:00.000-07:00

I don't "try" things..

I DO things (with Allah's will)..

With me, it's either you make it or break it :)

My first hypnobirthing class

2011-06-20T23:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked the 5th month of my pregnancy. Alhamdulillah.. Being pregnant has never been better :)

My baby's movement became wilder. I have never been healthier. And after several visits to Dermalogica, I'm about to achieve back my skin condition before I got pregnant. I guess the hormone finally became stable. All praise be to Allah SWT.

Anyway, about July last year, Dr. Sumay introduced me to the concept of hypnobirthing. Hypnobirthing came from the term "hypnosis birthing" where you hypnotize yourself when you give birth to eliminate fear, anxiety and tension.

After reading Kdy's entry on Muhammad's delivery via hypnobirthing and further convinced by stories I read in Parenthood, I decided to sign up in a hypnobirthing class in Shah Alam as early as I was in my 2 months pregnancy.

I seeked for Love's opinion and to my relief, his answer was, "Anything that you want Sayang, anything i can help to make you comfortabe during labor." I am up until this day so glad that he did not at all care about the fees (RM780 for 5 classes) and the commitment of attending 5 classes on 5 Saturdays in a row in Shah Alam. TQ, Sayang! I appreciate.

Last Saturday we had our very first class. It did not look anything like a classroom at all to me. Just a comfortable room, with a few settees and a lot of cushions with 3 other couples who were just as eager as us and the practitioner that we called as Wai Han - a very very nice lady!

I have a lot to share about my first hypnobirthing class, but I guess I leave it all so that you can experience the magic from the practitioner herself.

But before the hypnobirthing class,
- I was so scared of delivering the baby that i did not even want to think about it just as yet.
- I was so scared of ~~contraction~~ surge, that i was thinking of using epidural.
- I was so scared that i couldn't love my baby as much as I supposed to.
- Love was scared to be with me inside the labor roome (He could not stand blood)
- I was so scared that my baby got so big because of Love's gene. (He was born 4 kgs)

And got scared of so many other negative thoughts by listening to all the horror stories.

But at the end of the class, Wai Han eliminated all the fears one by one.

Now, I seriously look forward to meet my Little Precious. I know that the surge will bring me closer to my baby and Love gained confidence in helping me birth the baby naturally, no drugs, no stitches, no tears. He finally watched the videos of women gave birth to their baby via hypnobirthing, all that blood doesn't scare him anymore!

What more important is, I have never feel more connected to my baby than before. :) I talked to Little Precious everyday, I enjoyed the movements and I ate healthily for the sake of this Little Precious.

Every decision Love and I make now involves this Little Precious. We made decision as a family.

I will talk more about my hypnobirthing stories, all I can say is that your baby can never be too big for you, or staying too long inside your tummy, that is all the doctor's fear. When Allah SWT guides you to it, He'll guide you through it. Just have faith :)

To end my post, here is my fav hypnobirthing quotation, "A pregnant woman is like a beautiful flowering tree, but take care when it comes time for the harvest that you do not shake or bruise the tree, for in doing so, you may harm both the tree and its fruit."

Wiring and piping

2011-06-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

Done with the wiring for the house!!

Dad helped me install the lighting for the house (bought the lights in Puchong and blogged all about it here.)

Living room

Dining room

Staircase

Normally the cost for you to install one ceiling light varies from RM10 - RM50.

And my youngest brother helped us with the piping system of the house.

host set for toilet = RM40 kat hardware; length for normal toilet = 1m

Whee!!

2 tier dish rack = RM49.90 at Jusco

Dah ada sinki, boleh basuh pinggan :)

Graduation goggles

2011-06-14T03:52:00.000-07:00

Today, brighter days start ahead of us!!

It was Love's last day at his former company yesterday. And today, begins his new job, with much better position and salary, and most importantly, so much nearer to our house.

Now, I can see him everyday!! Previously, he had to outstation almost all the time. He was away to Johor, KB and KK for these past three weeks. Even if he had to stay at the office, he only came home three times a week since the place where he worked was quite a distance from our home. Even if he came home after work, he would arrive at almost 9pm and leave home at 6am the next morning

Now I can see him EVERYDAY!

Now I can cook for him EVERYDAY

Now I can dress up for him EVERYDAY!

Now I finally have the reason to come home early from work EVERYDAY! (Hopefully, lepas ni Dr. Sumay, Kak Iza and Eyfa dah tak payah nak shut down lappy or lampu utk paksa i balik ;p)

Seronoknyeeee!! :D

As much as Love was psyched with the idea, he had some graduation goggles these past few days. So what better way to cheer up my Big Friendly Giant other than cook a special meal for him. Recipe Eyfa..

Ikan Sembilang Masak Lemak Pilah Style

Half kgs ikan sembilang salai (About 7 ekor)
11 biji cili padi - blend
Setengah biji santan
Serbuk kunyit
Garam
Asam keping
Terung

Panaskan air.
Masukkan cili + kunyit + garam.
Tunggu sampai menggelegak, slowkan api and masukkan santan + asam keping.
Finally, masukkan terung and ikan sembilang salai

Hubby makan 3 ekor!! :)

And what better present to give this gorgeous?

Haha. Alfa 8c Competizione.

Untuk letak atas meja of course ;p

Hello, gorgeous!! Cantiknye baju, cantiknye seluar, cantiknye tie, mana uniform lama? ;p

Baby's checklist

2011-06-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

It's Mega Sale and I just bought more stuff for Little Precious!!

Now, I can crossed off almost 70% of the items from my checklist..

Clothings
~~Long sleeve shirt - x8~~
~~Long pants - x8~~
~~Short sleeve pants - x8~~
~~Short pants - x8~~
~~Short rompers - x2~~
~~Long rompers - x2~~
~~Mittens - x8~~
~~Booties - x8~~
~~Socks - x5~~
~~Hats - x4~~
~~Tummy binders - x8~~
~~Wardrobe~~
~~Detergent~~

Bathings
Bath tub
~~Bath mat~~
~~Towel - x2~~
~~Baby shower~~
~~Baby shampoo~~

Napkins
~~Napkins - x10~~
~~Cloth diapers - x20~~
~~Nappy liner - x2 boxes~~
~~Wet tissues - x2 boxes~~
~~Changing mat - x2~~
~~Pampers - x1~~
~~Laundry bag - x2~~
~~Cotton~~

Baby care
~~Baby powder + storage~~
~~Cotton buds~~
~~Baby lotion~~
~~Hair brush~~
Minyak telon
~~Nail clipper~~
~~Facial cotton~~
~~Nappy rash cream~~
~~Toothbrush~~
Baby oil

Beddings
~~Baby cot~~
Latex mattress - x2
~~Mattress for travelling~~
~~Blanket - x2~~
~~Pillows and bolster - x3 sets~~
~~Baby bedding set - x3~~
~~Mosquito net for baby cot~~
~~Mosquito net (bentuk tudung saji)~~
~~Baby cot organizer~~

Feeding
~~Breast pump~~
~~Storage bottles - x28~~
~~Feeding towel - x10~~
~~Cooler bag + pump bag~~
~~Ice pack - x3~~
~~Feeding bottles - x6~~
Orthodentic bottle nipple - x6
~~Bib~~
~~Bottle brush~~
~~Plastic storage~~
~~Bottle cleanser~~

Leisure
~~Car seat~~
~~Baby carrier~~
~~Stroller~~
~~Poncho/nursing cover~~

Optional
Bottle warmer
Sterilizer
Playpen

Optional items; tunggu ada rezeki lebih :)

Karma

2011-06-10T00:18:00.000-07:00

Last week, i was not in a good mood.

Testbed for my PhD had not yet working.

Those who were supposed to give technical supports had not yet answered my questions.

To top it all, supervisor had not yet reply my emails. Email kawan2 lain reply pula, sedikit sensitif, maklumlah hormon ibu mengandung..

So, when my project students came and met me without any appointments (or any progress); I got slightly annoyed. I could not remember what exactly i said to them, but their face filled with disappointment as they left. Chomanneyoooo..

I felt guilty the whole week. So, yesterday when another project student came, I treated him nicely.

Right after he went back, my supervisor called me, asking about the progress of my PhD while replying all my questions that had been pending since last week.

That was when it hit me..

Karma.

When I treated my student nicely, my supervisor will treat me even nicely in return. As much as I am a lecturer, i am still a student after all.

Subhanallah..

-Maafkan saya student2, saya masih belajar-

Painting the house!!

2011-06-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

Painted the house last weekend with the help of Mum+Dad+Alif, almost 70% complete.

Colour selections:
♥ Dining room and kitchen - Jotun Fresh Green
♥ Living room - Nippon Oyster Grey
♥ Guest room and family hall - Nippon Sweet Corn
♥ Kapal's jamming room - Nippon Aquatint
♥ Baby's room - A mixture of Jotun Viola + Jotun Purple Rain
♥ Our room - Rahsia ;p

Some colour charts to help you choose the colour; you can also google Nippon or Jotun colour chart for more colours.

The price for standard colours is RM30 for 7 litres. (7 litres can cover a Master bedroom - double coat). For premium colours; they vary. All paints are sponsored by my Dad, whee!! :)

We also went for kitchen cabinet and mattress hunting for our new house last weekend. Settled down with these..

Cost us around RM500 both; Father's Day sale. Delivery charges; free - skill membodek salesman yang dipelajari dari both our parents. Alhamdulillah :)

Anyway, will post the photos of our home after we're done with the painting!

4th month checkup!

2011-06-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

I was quite nervous to attend my 4th month checkup last Saturday. Reason was because previously the doctor kept on nagging that I did not gain enough weight. The most ideal weight a petite like me should gain is 2 kgs A month. But I gained a total of 0.5 kg only for THREE months.

Since I feel a lot healthier in second trimester, no more vomiting, I gained 2 kgs since my last checkup, Alhamdulillah :)

Anyway, this is how Little Precious looks like now..

Dah besar!! :)

I'm in the pink of health. The results of blood test and urine test were perfect! Alhamdulillah. Progress of the baby was good, started kicking about a week ago, Love was so excited everytime he got the chance to feel his/her kicking.

We couldn't take a look at the gender yet, but it's ok.. Both of us were not yet ready to know, though we were so looking forward to know.

Went for monthly checkup at homeopathy for second opinion, the doctor looked happy with my progress. Alhamdulillah. Thank to the Almighty.

I am currently in my 19 weeks pregnancy, half way to see you, Little Precious! At 14th week, my morning sickness stopped altogether, and so did my back pain and tummy cramp.

About a week ago, I started doing routine exercise to build up pelvic muscle under Mom's supervision by the guidance of Jane Fonda. Started to learn the breathing technique, the correct posture, etc.. cuz apparently Mom delivered all the three of us normally without any stitches and she thought part of it was due to Jane Fonda's workout.

I feel a lot heathier to do some shopping for Little Precious nowadays. After my checkup last Saturday, I went to Baby Love Warehouse Sale at Taman Connaught.

Verdict? Tak best! It was a very small area with limited options and not that cheap.

However, we did grab some items where the price were quite fair..

Mosquito net: RM30; Baby cot organizer: RM19; Thermal blanket (last piece): RM6 and lapik getah: RM8.

I am so looking forward to shop for my maternity clothes now that Mega Sale is starting. But, Love and I have been juggling time between the baby stuff and the stuff for our new home, so much things to do. But life has never been more contented :)

Breastfeeding

2011-05-31T18:57:00.000-07:00

Today is World Milk Day!

And the first thing that comes into my mind when I heard the word "MILK" is breastfeeding, now that I'm pregnant.

I must have been blessed since I am surrounded with a community where breastfeeding is a must in my office.

Thus, I've recently bought myself a Spectra 3 - Jingle Jungle Basic Back to Work Package from Fabulous Mom with a very fair price, RM481 inclusive of the filter!

I guess the best thing about Fabulous Mom is that my warranty starts the day I give birth to my baby rather than the day I buy the pump.

I pray so that I can fully breastfeed my baby until he/she reaches 2 years old. Semoga Allah SWT perbanyakkan susu. Dad always told me that when our intention is good, insya Allah everything else will follow smoothly. I have faith :)

Below is the article I excerpt from the Breastfeeding Essential.

ADVANTAGES OF BREASTFEEDING FOR BABY

1. Due to the anti-infective properties of breastmilk, breastfed babies tend to have less incidence of or less pronounced symptoms of ear infections, respiratory illness, allergies, diarrhea, and vomiting.

2. Due to the digestibility of breastmilk, breastfed babies are rarely constipated.

3. The stools of breastfed babies are mild-smelling.

4. SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is less common in breastfed babies.

5. Breastmilk is constantly changing in its composition to meet the changing needs of the baby. It has the exact combination of protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and sugars needed for the human infant at various stages of his growth.

6. Breastfed babies are constantly exposed to a variety of tastes through their mother's milk.

7. Breastfed children are at less risk for chrohn's disease and juvenile diabetes.

8. Children who were breastfed are less likely to need orthodontic work such as braces due to the unique sucking action required with breastfeeding. They also seem to have better overall dental health than formula-fed children. Children who were breastfed need speech therapy less often than those who were bottle-fed.

9. IQ levels are an average of 8 points higher in children who were breastfed.

10. Adult daughters who were breastfed are at less risk for breast cancer.

11. Adults who were breastfed have a lower risk for high cholesterol and asthma.

12. The bond between mother and child seems to be enhanced with breastfeeding.

ADVANTAGES OF BREASTFEEDING FOR MOTHER

1. Nursing immediately following delivery causes the uterus to contract lessening the risk of postpartum hemorrhage.

2. The uterus of a breastfeeding mother shrinks to its pre-pregnancy size more quickly.

3. Calories are burned while breastfeeding. It takes approximately 20 calories to produce an ounce of milk.

4. Women who nurse their babies for at least 6 months lessen their chances of pre-menopausal breast cancer.

5. Osteoporosis and cervical cancer are less common in women who breastfed.

6. The return of fertility is delayed with breastfeeding.

7. Breastfeeding is more economical than formula feeding. The cost of formula for 12 months is approximately $1000 - $1200.

8. Breastmilk is always available, clean, and the right temperature.

9. Many mothers feel a special satisfaction in knowing that they alone are meeting the nutritional needs of their babies.

P/S: Special thanks goes to Kak Sumay, Eyfa and Kak Iza for providing me with the best examples on how a mom shoud be.

First stage of renovation

2011-05-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah, I managed to cross off another item in my "To achive list 2011".

The first stage of renovation has been completed last weekend, now we have installed the grill and awning. This weekend we are going to install the lights and fans :)

I am not a big fan of fancy grill.

I prefer the simple one.

But, picture above seems too simple for my liking.

I don't fancy wrought iron because it looks like my mum's house.. macam rumah orang tua ;p

Stainless steel? Too expensive.

Pictures above from google.

We settle down with the normal steel, and for me, there is no other better colour for grill other than white! This is how our home sweet home looks like now with grill and awning!

Awning!

Happy :) I am very satisfied with the work of our contractor. I can't wait to move in to our new house!!

The 3 restaurants I just discovered

2011-05-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

Woke up feeling like a zombie today.

Got home around 12 midnight after having a night of fun at La Risata, Jalan Ampang with Hasihir and co. Italian dining, really nice ambience but the food was so-so.

I love most the pizza.

Anyway, on the eve of our anniversary, we tried a new place for dessert called Fruitland in Subang.

We tried Rainbow Lolo and some Tao Fu Fa glutinous rice ball.

Rainbow Lolo was so-so.

But the Tao Fu Fa was super yummy.

Also, a week ago, Love and I had some free time for ourselves!!

Finally, after a while being super duper busy with baby and Homer (our new home!), Love decided to bring me to The Curve for a little break.

Again the main dish was so-so.

But, this dessert (which I forgot the name) has got to be my favourite :)

Anyway, rezeki baby!! Last month, I became a permanent staff and thus, gaji saya naik this month!!!!! :) And starting from this month, our company starts to give monthly transportation allowance. So, walaupun this month baru start potong zakat and tabung haji, still gaji lebih from last month. ALHAMDULILLAH!!

The tipping point

2011-05-25T00:10:00.000-07:00

Now that Love and I were busy finding out names for our precious, I realized one thing...

"Why is the name Rayyan suddenly become so famous for boys? And Qasreena for girls?"

Weird.

And the fact that how suddenly Red Velvet Cake or Macaroons became so overrated when just yesterday you never even heard of them.

What caused this epidemic?

Well, according to the book that I read not so recently "The tipping point" (One of my convo's pressie from Love, thank you Sayang!), these are the three agents that caused epidemic;

1) The law of few
2) The stickiness factor
3) The Power of context.

The law of few describes the three types of people in the world.

1) The connector: Those people that link up the world and have many friends
2) The mavens: Those people we rely on in giving us new informations
3) The salesman: Those people with powerful negotiation skills (So Kapal!)

The stickiness factor is how we give some informations to others so that they will remember what we told them. Really need to master this, so that my student can remember what I taught them and finally score for final!

And the power of context is how we are easily influenced by the surrounding around us.

Very very interesting, this book! It really is eye-opening :)

Now, I'm off to my next Gladwell's book.. "What the dog saw"!

BIL's wedding

2011-05-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

My brother in law got married last Thursday!! Congrats Abang Long and Kak Izrin!!

Some pics from aqad on Thursday..

I especially love the bride's wedding gown. Very breathtaking!

One of the hantaran from the girl's side was none other than.. MACAROONS (From Whisk that I've been wanting to try for ages!!) Moment of truth, took a bite and the first thing that came out from my mouth was, "OMG! Too sweet!!!"

Still, I'm happy that I finally got to try the famous Macaroons and glad to know that I am no longer craving for that now. Hehe.

On Friday was the bride's reception. We were all excited pimping out our Hanbok (Korean's traditional gown)

Then on Sunday was the groom's reception.

Make up paling cantik!!!

At this point, I got so tired walking around greeting the guests. Tadela jalan banyak sangat on, but now perut dah berat ;p Went to mom and said, "Penattt...."

Then mom said, "Mestila penat sikit, nak dapat sister in law kan."

And the realization made me smile.

Kak Izrin, WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!!

Such wonderful events, and the penat lelah, totally pays off. Congrats again to Abang Long and Kak Izrin :) Nothing more that we wish for other than you two will be happy together until the end of time.

3 days to our anniversary :)

2011-05-18T23:17:00.000-07:00

If you have a minute
Why don't we go
Talk about it
Somewhere only we know ;p

Proud sister

2011-05-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

I always thought that my younger brother, Alif was a bit too different from my youngest brother, Hadi and I.

He was always in cloud 9. He could sit in front of his text book for hours staring at the same page, really annoying.

He refused to go to the tuition with excuses like, "Kakak dulu tak nak pergi takpe.." So, I really couldn't say anything much. I was not a good role model after all.

While Hadi and I scored straight A's in UPSR and PMR, Alif was more than happy to get some A's.

And while Hadi and I did ok in SPM, Alif failed one of his paper.

The month he got his SPM result was also the month I got my first real job. I was so devastated at the news, but I came back all cheered up still to help him find a college that will accept him, but he was already giving up with his life.

That was when I cried. And I said right in front of his face, "Tak happy pun Kak dapat kerja fikir adik sendiri nak jual burger tepi jalan." He cried with me.

That was three years ago.

Last Saturday was his convocation! He got dean's list almost every semester for his diploma ever since. Alhamdulillah :)

He finally proved us right!

Jesse is back!!

2011-05-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

Haven't been obsessed with any song from Glee since "Hello" in Season 1. Not only that the song selection in Season 2 was too overrated (I've had enough of Gaga playing in the radio, thank you), I don't think Rachel been given any song that accentuates the beauty of her voice.

Until the prom episode.

The moment Rachel sang the first verse of "Rolling in the deep", I felt goosebumps everywhere. Then, there was the familiar voice that I've waited for months!!

JESSE ST. JAMES IS BACK, EVERYONE!!! \(^_^)/

And "Jar of Hearts" during the prom!! OMG! This just gets more interesting.

So currently I am INSANELY in love with Jesse St. James, thus I just have to write this entry!

The cheapest cloth diapers

2011-05-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

I am not the best person to talk about cloth diapers or CD. (Further info: click here)

Was really blur when my two office mates were obsessing over CD and I thought why the hassle. Pampers kan senang, pakai buang je.

Tapi peer pressure.

Dr. Sumay were constantly talking about CD and finally I asked her to bring one sample for me to study. And I fell in love immediately.

Perhaps because of the beautiful colours. Or maybe the realization of how much money i can save rather than using pampers. Or rather the amazement of how flexible the size is, you can use it until your baby turned two years old. Not forgetting how everyone is talking about environmental friendly nowadays.

So i made a video of how to use the CD, and brought back the proposal to Mom and Love. Mom because she was going to take care of the baby. Love because.. Haha.. He was the banker.

Mom agreed. Love was ecstatic simply because of the colours.

So, after doing further studies (Dr. Sumay was the one who did the study, but I was a very good listener), we decided to buy from a warehouse. The price range of CD normally ranges between RM35 to RM50.

But at QQBaby, we bought it for RM12.60 each (original price is RM18 but since we bought more than RM1000, we were entitled with 30% discounts).

I bought 20 pieces. Wheee!!!!~ Here are the purchase :)

Forgiveness

2011-05-11T02:44:00.000-07:00

Long time ago, when I started teaching, I had to take over a class from another lecturer.

I believed my method of teaching was totally different from his. I wanted their report to be submitted on time, I wanted them to prove that the works were of their own.. So comparing myself to their previous lecturer, I was like Cindrella's stepmother ;p

So, once.. when I was doing some work in my room, a student came to me, took a chair sat in front of me and came out with a statement that left me stunned for abot an hour, "Ma'm, I think you're annoying."

What could you say to a statement like that?

"I am so stressed to come to your class." He continued. Then, thanked me and left.

Though it haunt me, I did not tell anyone of that incident until after the mid term came.

This student was a brilliant student, dean's list every semester.

But, he was blank during the mid term.

After everyone gone, he came to me and said, "Ma'm, I don't know what happened to me, but I went blank.. I know exactly how to do that before, but I just went blank."

I looked at his answer script, it was blank. He wrote his answers somewhere else, and he did not submit that paper. He did not even answer the simplest theory questions. I asked, "You went blank for this part also ke?"

He looked shocked. "OMG!! I did not see this page at all while answering!" He went pale with eyes all teary.

Since I got so kesian already, and he looked so sincere, I told him, "K.. I give you one minute to answer just one question from this page."

Quickly took his pen that was working just now. No ink. Took his pencil, no lead. Borrowed my pen that I just used, no ink.

At that point, the technician passed us by, I quickly borrowed her pen, the student took the pen from me and put it down. He went down to his knees and looked straight into my eyes, with some tears in his eyes..

"Ma'm, did I hurt you in anyway? If I did, I am soooooo verrryyyyyy sorry. I must have hurt your feeling because I've never been this blank. And all the pens and pencils seem not to work when I used them, I must have hurt you. I truly deeply am sorry."

At this point, I tried holding back my own tears and felt a pang of guilt. Did i not forgive this guy until it had come this far?

So I said, "I really forgive you. And I'm sorry if I did annoy you in anyway, I wanted the best for you guys."

He took the pen, answer that question and left.

He did not get an A in my class just because of the mid term. But he did not get that bad either. He scored excellently in the rest of the assesment.

And we have been good friends ever since.

I've learned the most important lesson that day; not to hold grudges on my students.

And while we laughed about the incident this morning, I think we both knew that this incident is one that will never be forgotten.

Mom and Baby Expo at Mid Valley!!

2011-05-09T02:43:00.000-07:00

These past few days, I've been swiping my credit card like nobody else's business.

Not to worry though, I've paid them all this morning. I just want the points, anyway!

I've been having a terrible backache this past couple of weeks. Since Love is such a sweetheart (or rather he had enough of my complaints), he spent the whole Friday night with his macho guy friend to buy me a maternity pillow!!

Store after store and he found the cheapest one at Modernmum with the price of RM179. The best thing is that, boleh jadi nursing pillow!!

Then on Saturday, we spent the whole evening in Mid Valley for the Baby Fair.

Goodness!! I can go crazy with the sale!!!

We bought lots of baju baby and the accessories; booties, mittens, socks, hat and bip! Baju range from RM2-RM15. Accessories RM1.50-RM4.

Also some storage bottles (Bumblebee RM32 for 11 bottles), poncho/nursing cover, baby carrier and the best purchase of the day has got to be..

The stroller!!

For newborn

For toddler

This is Love's choice :) Stroller for newborn + toddler + car seat for newborn for only RM345. Such bargain!!

Another fair is on 29th to 31st July this year. Tapi, BFF Maria dah beranak masa tu, huhu.. I can still shoppppp!!!!!!!!!!~

Mum had her own agenda too last weekend. She bought some towels for her future grandchildren and she made some pillow covers yang super comel!

Second trimester is the best trimester indeed!! Bestnye shopping :)

Of happy things

2011-05-04T03:43:00.001-07:00

Bila buat entry sedih, mesti counter balik dengan entry happy.

Recently, a friend of mine got engaged. Bila dah jodoh, senang je datang. We never knew the existence of this guy before, but when the time comes, sometimes you don't really need that much effort.

What I always believed is that, if you want to get married, you must want it really bad. Benda baik kan, mesti Allah SWT akan tolong :)

I especially like the centerpiece. Ntah bunga apa, light pink and light blue, so adorable!

Also, it was my youngest brother's birthday yesterday.

About 9.30 pm, my mum went crazy and said, "Where's my phone? Where's my phone? Need to call your brother to wish him Happy Birthday"

Me: What? You haven't yet wish him?? Too late already ok!

After she hung up the phone she said, "Nasib baik sempat. I'm the first to wish him!"

Me: Apa yang first nye? I messaged him midnight tadi.

Mum: I'm the first to wish la, he was born at 9.31 pm.

Like that also can aa.. Mums are weird. (Note to my baby, I'm gonna be normal to you ok)

Owh, another thing to share to all mommies!! I just bought some nursing bras from FabulousMom.com. Clearance sale for only RM10, my first online purchase, whee!!

Who would have thought nursing bras are way more comfortable than push ups?

To one of the strongest person I know..

2011-05-04T03:17:00.000-07:00

I met a Venus..

Who inspired me to dress up at days when I was down to light up my spirit.

Who inspired me to dress up for my better half though when he was not around at the moment (MMS kan ada :)).

Who inspired me to cook fine dining for the sake of love.

Who inspired me to pamper myself in order to look beautiful in front of my husband.

Who inspired me to escape for romantic get aways every now and then.

...

I met a Venus, who collided with the Mars.

But since Venus is the brightest natural object in the night sky after moon, I wouldn't worry much.

Cuz I know,

she will inspire me to stand tall at times when it is almost not possible to do so.

I have faith in you. :)

I'm a wife again!

2011-04-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah, I'm getting better and better nowadays :)

The best thing is that I have the energy to prepare for Love's breakfast for yesterday and today!!

When we got married, I challenged myself to prepare a breakfast for him everyday for as long as God permits. And syukur, I managed to wake up as early as 5am (He had to leave to work before 6am) for that until the day I had some minor bleeding. Then, everything changed.

Though Love himself prohibited me from doing anything, sometimes he mentioned how much he missed my cooking. It made me feel so helpless at times.

But yesterday, I could even dress up for him before he arrived from work. Yay! I finally feel like a wife again! :)

Currently, I am looking for a maid to help mum with our baby once I'm at work and to help us with our new house (we just got the key, y'all!) so that I can have my full concentration on Love and our baby.

Love was reluctant with my idea of having a maid at first, his main issue was money. But, for me money was not everything.

Speaking of which, let me tell you our story when we first got married.

I was soooo underpaid back then. But, rezeki after kahwin, right after I got married, I was upgraded to lecturer that resulted my salary to be more than doubled from the previous one.

As happy as Love was with the news, he was a bit frustrated with the fact that my salary was higher than his. He asked me if I was going to be ok with it.

I just laughed. And said the exact same things I told him whenever he was down, "I have faith in you in ways you couldn't ever imagined possible. And you will be someone, someday trust me. That is when the world knows why I marry you. I foresee things."

He always laughed at that.

I don't marry anyone for God's sake. I take my life very seriously. So I mean every single word I told him.

He proved me just right. With his salary, he provides nafkah to me monthly religiously. He pampers me with stuff. Just like the first date, we fight to pay for our date every single time.

And so I adviced my little niece, "If you want to get married, you don't really have to find someone rich, average pon tape, as long as he loves spending for you."

A couple of days ago, we received a news that lighten up our life. Rezeki baby maybe. Love is reaching his way up there, to be that someone. In such young age. Alhamdulillah.

And hence, a maid from Indonesia is on her way to us now. I pray for the best. Ameen.

Hectic Saturday

2011-04-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

Woke up all excited for my 3rd month check up at Az-Zahra!!~

Latest pic of our precious..

Dah ada tangan, dah ada kaki.. haiyooo, comel! :)

Had my blood checked (hurts a lot). I gained 0.5 kg btw, Alhamdulillah, though I hope I gained more. Blood pressure was normal, hopefully blood test turns out ok too.

Since the check up finished earlier than we thought, we rushed to PJ for Pureen warehouse sale!! Memang sangat best!

What we bought on that day..

Clothings (Price ranges from RM3 to RM10)
Long sleeve-5
Long pants-4
Short sleeve-2
Short pants-1

Other stuff we bought as in the picture ranges from as cheap as RM5 to RM22.

Tips for the Pureen Warehouse Sale:
♥ Try to come on the first day, else baju banyak size dah tade.
♥ Ramai orang and panas, so wear as comfortable as possible.
♥ Parking agak jauh, so bring an umbrella just in case.
♥ Plan what to buy, else rambang mata.

Then, we went to Kak Zana (our fav. tailor) to take our jubah and baju Melayu for Abg Long's wedding.

Went home, took a bath and rushed to Italiannies, Empire for dinner with my favourite girls..

Had a wonderful time catching up while having my all time fav., Spinach Artichoke. Love's all time fav. --> Salmon Pizza.

Such hectic yet so very wonderful Saturday :)

Hello 2nd trimester!

2011-04-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

Today is the beginning of my 2nd trimester, Alhamdulillah. I am so thankful to the Almighty considering the ups and downs I had during my first trimester, I have faith that the second trimester onwards is going to be a very happy journey for both Love and me. Insya Allah. Ameen. :)

This post is meant to share (for dear readers) and to reminisce (to myself one day) the ups and downs I've been through during my first trimester.

The first month.
You can read all about it here.

The second month
..was the worst! Feeling sick every morning. Vomiting every evening. No appetite to eat at all, yet hungry every 15 minutes or so! Could not sleep. Tired all the time. Too lazy to go to work or even to get out of the house. Taking leave almost once in every week.

Even worse, I felt so not motivated, so freaking helpless. Mum and hubby did almost everything for me. I did not even have the energy to mandi after work. That bad!

I couldn't eat almost everything that I loved before esp milk and vege, but I super love fruits, but too much fruits lead to another problem..

The threatened abortion made it even worse. I was at my lowest point of my life at this moment.

The third month
Seeing my baby's heartbeat for the first time just lifted up my spirit to the max.

My morning sickness starts to cool down, energetic again to go to work and to settle down after work.

Less hungry, more appetite, some minor back pain but wayyyy better.

...
Now, i'm in my fourth month, things are getting better, Alhamdulillah.

Though my first three months are not all rainbows and butterflies, but I must thank Allah SWT for a lot of things.

I heard that some pregnant women are more sensitive towards their husband, but Love and I.. we had such amazing understanding. He babied me the way i could not imagine possible. He cleaned the room, did the dishes, even bathed me every night.. and.. he was my source of motivation.

Never once he complained.

And mum... just did EVERYTHING else. Too much to write in words.

BFF Maria cheered up my days and Dr. Sumay was there everyday I was in the office, just made my days brighter.

I must have been blessed.

And I thank everyone that helps me throughout my first trimester, in which without them... i just could not bear the thought.

The one that gets hurt :(

2011-04-18T18:25:00.000-07:00

In life, there has got to be one couple that you always look up to..

Whether it's the friends that match your definition of "the happiest couple ever", or Marshall and Lily from "How I met your mother" or your favourite relatives or even perhaps your own parents.

But when it all falls apart, some might wonder whether true love still exist. But to those who live in a fairy tale like me can only hope that they will eventually live happily ever after one day.

Almost always, we often forget that these break ups affect other people as much as they affect the affected couple.

Remember the episode when Lily left Marshall, best friend Ted was hurt because of the break up too.

So to my epitome of "true love", I know you're reading this, you will forever be remembered and be missed and be loved.. even when you're now continents away. Love, forever your niece :)

First purchase for My Precious

2011-04-17T18:50:00.000-07:00

Upon entering my second trimester, my baby bump started showing already, which also means.. I need maternity pants!

Very unfortunate for petite like BFF Maria and me, Mothercare and Modern Mum do not have our size! Discrimination!!

But fortunatey, BFF Maria got pregnant first before me. So she knew where to buy stuff already, I just follow her lead.

Since I'm getting better nowadays, Love and I shopped for my maternity clothing at Alamanda on Saturday. But then, we saw this..

Baby cot idaman sebab colour putih and adjustable and cost us ony RM200! Kat Carrefourre ok!

So terus beli :)

The next day, we went to Baby Fair at Ampang Point.

And we found this Nike romper, comel bangat!

So.. there goes, the first item and the first baju..

Kapal and Ikeen Fly to Seoul

2011-04-10T04:29:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Korea, y'all!!!~

Of course travelling as a pregnant woman makes it a bit harder (plus the threatened abortion I had), I had a bag of medicine to bring with me, but Alhamdulillah, I was so fine there. I vomitted only once during my whole journey, syukur.

Our initial itenary could not be used due to my condition. So i let mum in law (MIL) and her brother, Wey Samchun (WSC) to decide our itenary. Here goes..

First day

6 and a half hours of flight using Air Asia X for pregnant woman made it very tiring for me. Lesson learned: First, hot seat for more leg room. Second: Seat near toilet due to frequent urination. Third: Day flight makes me constantly hungry and the food provided were not sufficient for me, probably cuz I ate for two.

I got stucked for almost half an hour in immigration due to what they called "computer error". Had to undergone a thorough checkup, it seemed that the immigration in Korea is a bit strict, but Alhamdulillah.. I managed to get through.

We stayed at WSC's house, have to get used of the floor's and the bed's heater. Temeprature was 7 degrees celcius the first day.

Second day

National Museum of Korea

Admission is free. It is divided to three floors. First: historical gallery. Second: Fine arts gallery and third: sculpture and craftwork gallery. I wouldn't say it was really that exciting, but I just love museum, so if you're not a big fan of museum, you'll find it as just another ordinary museum you ever visited.

Lunch

The restaurant inside the national museum does not served any pork. Mind the word restaurant, not 'foodcourt'. We ordered bibimbap (rice with all sorts of vege and eggs) and seafood pancake. Price ranges between 7000 won to 10000 won. (Exchange rate: 1000 won = RM3).

War Museum

Admission is also free, maybe more exciting than the national museum, my verdict.

Ittaewon

We were given exactly an hour to shop by WSC in this place which for me is the equivalent of our Sg Wang. I found one (and only) halal restaurant here in Korea. I bought my winter boot here, some strawberries, some shirts and jerseys for my family and Love bought his socks and his extremely big shoes since we couldn't find his size in Malaysia. His size is US 15 btw.

Winter clothings are way cheaper here compared to Malaysia. Zara pun murah. But surprisingly, the price of Korean strawberry here is the same as price in Malaysia :( Mahal! Good news is, Ittaewon is THE ONLY place where the salesperson can speak English.

Dinner

Had dinner near WSC's house in Seoungnam. Noodles with lots of seafood, pedas!!!

Third day

Korean's Folks Village

Highlight of the trip!!! Korean's folks village :) My favourite. Must goooo!!! Admission is 15 000 won for adult.

Lunch

Korean's folks village's foodcourt. Organic shop, so they don't serve pork. We had some Mee suah and again, seafood pancake (the best!)

E-mart

Shop around WSC's house. Tengok ni, no plastic bag, no shopping bag, pack your stuff with the box prvided.

Dinner

Again, at Seoungnam, a restaurant where they served only fish. We had grilled mackarel together with MIL's sister, Immo and her daughter and MIL's cousin, Komo.

Fourth day

Drizzling the whole day. According to the news, the rain was contaminated with radioactive from Japan. Tawakkal..

Namdaemun

The cheapest place to buy souvenirs (in bulk). But they don't speak English at all, pftt.. So I was like, "Olmayeyo?"(How much). And when the salesperson mentioned some numbers in Korean that I did not understand I'd be like, "Omma!! Help!!"

Lunch

Had lunch at one of the stalls in Namdaemun that sells vege and seafood (tempura).

Visiting relatives

Went to visit one of Love's grandmother, Komo Halmeni and one of his close uncle, Majangdong Samchun, where we fell in love with this little girl, Na Hyeon.

Dinner

Dinner at Majangdong, Bono-Bono Japanese seafood restaurant. This one is on the house since the cousing worked there. Tengok ni, they ate gold (real gold).

Fifth and final day

Our last typical breakfast. Kat sana pagi, petang, siang, malam makan nasi. Nasib baik dah familiar with all the food there, MIL selalu serve during weekend bila she's in Malaysia.

Had Domino's for lunch, the only pizza we found without meat. Even the seafood pizza pun ada bacon. This is vegetarian pizza with tapioca, pineapple, tomato and corn, weird combiation, tapi best!

Had the rest of the day for just the two of us. Walked along the Seoungnam street, had some coffee..

And finally we had to say goodbye. Sedihnye, both of us cried in the airport. Everyone been taking a good care of us. Tak naik bas sekali pun. Semua WSC hantar :(

If in Singapore, I lerned to respect, because the people there are super duper friendly and very respectful to others. In Thailand, I learned to appreciate what we have in Malaysia. In Korea... I definitely learned to love. Regardless of the different language, the different skin tone, I feel so loved here.

I WANT TO GO THERE AGAIN!

Thank you Wey Samchun, thank you Omma for everything. See you in Malaysia very soon :) This journey brought me closer to my MIL and Love's family, Alhamdulillah.

Preparation to KOREAAAAAAA!!!

2011-03-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

Since my last entry sucks, let's talk about something fun.

Another exciting news I received after I got back from Columbia Asia is that I am allowed to fly to Korea!!! Went to Az Zahra for a second opinion, and yay!!

4 more days to gooooo... Right after receiving the news, Love and I went to Winter Time to do some shopping.

According to MIL, it's still snowing in Korea, can you imagine, it's March already. Last Friday, it was -6 to 4 degrees celcius. :( I was not a big fan of winter. With 18 degrees pon, I'll be in my sweater and pashmina and socks and still shaking.

Some of the stuff I bought last Sunday..

Can't waitttt!!

The only thing that might hold me back is the fact that I'm gonna miss my boss a.k.a supervisor's farewell party.

Don't worry she's not leaving anywhere, just that she got promoted to deputy dean and hence no longer our HOD.

Sedihnyeeee... How could I miss such party for one of the most important person in my life... :'(

One thing for sure though, no one can ever ever EVER EVER replace her. What should I buy for her in Korea?

Btw, Kapal's phone akan roaming kat sana, if ada anything nak order from there, just drop us a message!

Enough

2011-03-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

Very TYPICAL reasons students come and see lecturers after final examination..

1) Minta markah kesian dengan alasan, "I lost my loved ones this sem, so I couldn't perform." Every single semester mesti ada without miss.

2) Minta markah extra dengan alasan kawan2 yang lain semua tiru masa assignment, dia buat sendiri walaupun markah teruk. Berani kutuk kawan depan lecturer you, nampak sangat backstabber!

3) Begged for marks sebab CGPA teruk, kalau turun lagi scholar tak dapat sambung.

4) Tak dapat hantar thesis sebab busy sangat dengan final. Ye, memang lecturer you semua tak pernah kena hantar thesis lepas final ye.

5) Haritu tak hantar project sebab thumbdrive hilang, computer reformat. Baru terhegeh2 nak hantar sebab dah tau final susah. And so, I end up with this..

Tu pun masih ada yang ketuk non-stop nak pecah bilik, berani sungguh.