Let's grow old together..

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

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

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 :)

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

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

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

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..