Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Baby Driving

I found this cute vid. Enjoy!!!!

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006

14cm and growing.....

Yesterday was my 2nd checkup with my Ob/Gyn. This time we chose a weekday so that we didn't have to wait so long. Hubby and I decided not to take the prenatal testing for Down's Syndrome so we were spared any blood testing this time. It was a quite a decision to make, not to do the testing but even our Doctor supported our decision since she said unless we were willing to give up the baby if something was shown to be amiss, it was alright to decide not to go ahead. Especially since the tests were not 100% foolproof anyway. But on the next visit I will have to take the glucose test to check for diabetes.

The most exciting part of the visit as always, is the ultrasound to check for baby's measurement and heartbeat. The feeling we get everytime we see our baby on the screen is nothing short of magical. On the last visit all we saw was a mass on the screen but this time, we can make out his/her whole form. (Let's go with HIM for the meantime) We saw a side profile of his face (I wonder if his nose is like mine) and we saw his legs kicking in the air. He was quiet throughout the scanning. The Doc says he is probably sleeping. But when the Doc asked me to cough, He actually fluttered, kicked his legs in the air and moved to his side. (hhmm....attitude already? hehe) Hubby called him lazy baby. What can I say? Like father like child. hahahaha

Our baby is currently 14cm, crown to rump (butt) so that means he is possibly longer (if you count his curled feet and all). His length is in accordance with his age of 11 weeks coming to 12 and his heartbeat is also normal. The Doc pointed out his two legs and two hands and he seems to be progressing well. Alhamdulillah. May Allah keps him in the best of health till he reaches full term Insya'Allah.

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Friday, May 26, 2006

11 weeks 29 more to go. Time sure flies very fast. It feels like just yesterday I took that pee test and jumped with joy that there were 2 blue lines instead of the usual 1. So far I have had a great pregnancy. Small bouts of merlion-ing here and there but nothing major alhamdulillah. No food/smell aversion, no cravings, no nausea, no aches and pain just very very tired. I dun think I have gained that much of weight although I have a lot to spare already from pre-pregnancy days so thats another great thing!

I was warned many times over by my dearest Umi not to buy anything yet for the baby. Absolutely nothing! Zilch! So I have been staying away from infant dept just in case I get this big great urge to get something (and I tell it hasn't been easy!!!) and risk upsetting her by breaking her pantang. My Umi has never been superstitious so it was quite weird to see her insist on this. But better safe than sorry. I realise since being pregnant, the things I would normally say "blah!" to and go ahead with, now I choose to err on the side of caution. Not that I'm superstitious or anything but Just In Case...

meanwhile..... its counting the day till the end of my 1st Trimester......

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Thursday, May 18, 2006

Inch By Inch

I think it's time for me to start getting maternity wear. I sat down this morning on my chair in the office and immediately regretted my choice of wear today. The elastic portion of my pants has cut into my flesh and I'm reeling from the pain the whole day. Its not so bad in the morning but after lunch, it has started to slowly kill me. Its worse when I stand up and walk about. I seriously contemplated going to OG to get new pants during lunch just now but suddenly I remembered the Great Singapore sale is here so I'm going to go maternity shopping BIG TIME this weekend. hehehe

I haven't particularly noticed my tummy expanding but clothes I'm used to wearing feel very snug now and when I wear baju kurung, its almost like wearing a sign that says "I'm Pregnant" (except for a few really baggy baju kurungs I have)

I did a quick survey on maternity clothes when I was in KL recently and also when i got back home. Why are maternity wear so blardy expensive? Its not that much of extra material and that stretchy thing spandex also not so expensive what. I think its a conspiracy to make as much money as possible from pregnant and helpless women. Thats what happens when the movers and shakers of the fashion world are Men, in particular men who have no feelings whatsoever toward women and in their lifetime will never have to spent on maternity clothes for their loved ones, virtue of them being GAY.

So first stop this weekend ---> Dorothy Perkins
They have the nicest maternity "that-don't-look-like-maternity-clothes" clothes I know. Anywhere else carry such nice looking maternity clothes that dun cost a bomb??
Any pointers by the mentor mommies would be realy appreciated. hehe

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Monday, May 15, 2006

Books & Cds for Mothers

We were shopping at Joo Chiat with my cousin and her husband who were here for the weekend and we stopped for a look see at that 2nd floor shop that sells all kinds of religious books and magazines. Umi came across this book and bought it for me.


Indeed it was the most informative book (in Malay) I have ever come across. Full of pictures in colour and text-ed in easy to read short sentences (my attention span to read in Malay is rather limited), it contains all the relevant Doa's and sieves out the silly pantang larang(s) of the old folks and tells us which ones are based on the Quran & Sunnah. Did you know that you could work towards getting curly hair for your child even if neither you, your husband or anyone in the family has curly hair if you eat at least 10 boiled cockles everyday from early pregnancy to your due date?? Amazing huh?


We also bought some cds by the famous motivator & wiseman Dr Fadzillah Kamsah. A little too early maybe for us but no harm increasing our knowledge now. When we actually have the baby to care for, we might not have the time to sit and really listen to the cds.

Here are some gems in the CD I thought will be useful for all you parents out there.

Ada 4 tahap dalam mendidik anak-anak iaitu :
Dari bayi hingga ke usianya 7 tahun
Pada masa ini, anak hendaklah disayangi dengan sepenuh hati oleh ibubapa.
dibelai dengan penuh kasih sayang, diajak bermain, bergurau dan seumpamanya
dijaga seperti menatang minyak yang penuh.
Natijahnya agar anak sentiasa sedar dan fikir bahawa ibu bapa adalah rujukan terbaik
bagi mereka dalam semua hal yang mereka hadapi.
Dari usia 8 hingga 14 tahun
Dalam pada anak diasuh dengan penuh kasih sayang, anak mesti dididik dengan penuh
disiplin dan diajarkan tentang pengagihan tanggungjawab tak kira di rumah atau pun
di sekolah.
Dari usia 15 hingga 21 tahun
Ketika ini anak hendaklah didekati secara berkawan. Ibu bapa tidak lagi boleh marah-marah
yang melampau pada anak kerana jiwa remaja mereka akan memberontak.
Jangan sesekali mengherdik apalagi memukul anak-anak tersebut.
Dari usia 21 ke atas
Berikan kebebasan kepada anak dalam membuat keputusan sendiri atas apa yang ingin mereka kerjakan. Dalam pada itu, ibu bapa mesti sentiasa pantau, pesan, doa dan nasihat anak tersebut semoga hala tuju mereka betul.
Nak baca lagi ? Click Here ......

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Wednesday, May 10, 2006

I am Merlion....Hear Me Puke!!!!

What I thought was a once-a-day session has quickly progressed into once-after=every-meal situation. About 1/2 hr after I consume a meal, I will do the "merlion" stunt.

It comes with hardly any warning and no pain/nausea so I always have to have a puke bag ready all the time. At the moment its an inconvenience more than anything else. I hope it doesns't progress to anything worse. Umi says comparatively I'm quite lucky as most people suffer bouts of nausea/faintness too but I'm perfectly fine both before and after the merlion sessions.

I've tried making sure I eat just enough to satiate my hunger and nothing more just in case the vomitting is induced by over-eating. I've also tried variating the things I eat eg. replacing bread with rice just in case it is certain foods that causes this condition but to no avail. I still do the merlion every single time.

*Sigh* the things that happen to pregnant women!!!!!!!

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Tuesday, May 09, 2006

1..2...3.... WWWWEEECCCCKKKKKK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every morning in the car on the way to work, I will do a "Merlion". I do not feel any nausea, no typical symptoms of morning sickness but without fail every morning I will feel lotsa gas in my tummy then I'll do the merlion stunt. And immediately after I do the "merlion", I feel so much better then I can contnue my journey to work.

Is this what is meant by morning sickness? Its weird really. I would think that morning sickness involves feeling faint, nauseous and generally horrid but I have none of those symptoms. This morning for example, I was feeling completely fine and we were joking away in the car when I suddenly felt gassy pangs in my tummy. I bend forward in an effort to relieve the momentary pain and then woooaahhh. Lucky we keep a stash of plastic bags by the passenger door just in case of such emergencies.

I can't imagine what would happen if the incident happened elsewhere. Say in the office or even in the lift. It came totally without warning that I was taken totally off-guard. I really hope if it's gonna happen again, it will only happen only when I'm in the car or at home. Not in public places, thank you very much.

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Wednesday, May 03, 2006

The Last Holiday For A While....

We had a great time in Malacaa and Kl over the weekend. Our trip started on Saturday afternoon to Umbai Malacca for seafood dinner and then on to KL where we stayed the night and to shop. We even extended our holiday by one more night.And to top it all off, when we all met for breakfast at the Hotel coffee house, my hubby and I received presents from Lisa and M.


We got presents!!!! Two presents!!!!

The cute mugs that say "Umi Loves Abah" and Abah Loves Umi" hehehe.

The photo frame with a photo of how our kid is gonna look like. hehe!!

So sweet of them to give us presents!! It was totally unexpected especially since its a long way before our baby is due. I wonder if we will be getting some more presents halfway through the pregnancy too?? Every trimester maybe ??? hhmmmm......
hehehehehe

The shopping was great although I must admit I do not have the same energy and drive I used to have in my pre-pregnancy days. After just a few floors, I was tired and I was actually relieved when I saw benches in the shop. Still I wasn't about to give up and persevered on especially since certain circumstances already limited our shopping time by a whole lot!!!!

Despite it not being a satisfying trip shopping-wise, it was definitely sinful food-wise. In Malacca, we ate to our heart's content - Grilled Seabass fish, sweet and sour prawns and crispy squid fritters together with nasi lemak. I was hoping to get some crabs but they didn't have any that night.

And the last night before we left, we had authentic Thai food at "Good Evening Bangkok Restaurant" at OneUtama. The ambience was great, the service was tip top and the Tom Yum seafood was the kind you'd only get in Bangkok. A small sip sent your nostrils flaring, bells ringing deep in your ears and a tingle in your throat that you could remedy only by having more!!! I asked for black pepper crabs but the waiter said they didn't have crabs that night. But when he came to send the tom yum, I spotted a small crab leg in my bowl. He must have heard me exclaim because he explained that usually they use big crabs for the black pepper dish but if I didn't mind, they could make an exception for me and use these tiny crabs instead. A crab is a crab is a crab. Of course I said YES!!!!!! Such great service is definitely a rarity. To think the waiter didn't even know I was pregnant. If I was visibly pregnant, maybe he would go catch some crabs that very instant for me. Hehe. That was definitely great service!!!!!! I'd recommend the place to anyone who is in need of authentic Thai food with great service.


All in all we had a great time. Sadly it would be a while before I get to travel again. (Doctor's orders!!) So I'm gonna cherish this one till I get to go for my next vacation.

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Tuesday, May 02, 2006

First Pre-natal Visit

Finally we went for our first pre-natal visit. We reached the hospital (the OB clinic is located at the medical centre of the hospital) just on time but parking woes + lift woes made us quite late. But apparently you never quite get to see the doctor at your scheduled time on Saturdays so despite being late we saw the doctor a good one hour later than our appointment time of 10.45am.

All my apprehension about whether I had chose the right doctor vanished the moment I opened the door and she greeted us with a smile. She took a look at the slip of record the nurse handed to her, looked up at us and shook our hand saying Congratulations. I looked at my hubby and beamed at him at the right choice of Doctor we have made.

The Doc asked all the questions we expected her to ask ie " When was my last period?" "Do anybody in the family have any genetic diesease?" What I liked most about the whole thing was that it was a conversation instead of an interview session. We discussed a lot of things like where she thinks is a better hospital for us to have the delivery etc etc.

Next was the part that scared me the most. The physical examination. Call me a prude but I was totally freaked out about the idea of being half naked in the doctor's presence. How the hell am I gonna deliver I have no idea!!. But it was not as nerve-wrecking as I thought it would be. She checked my breasts and declared I was fit to breastfeed. The good doctor could sense I was very nervous especially when she said she was gonna have to use the vaginal probe. She made available her hips and asked me to lean myself against her to relax. That was definitely comforting.

She called in my hubby and as I held his hand, we both saw for the first time our baby on the LCD screen. It was so tiny that we could barely make him/her out. The doctor then increased the volume and we heard the baby's heart beat. We couldn't believe our ears. It was the sound of a thousand horses galloping. Never have we both heard a sound more melodious to our ears than the sound of our baby's heart beeting. It almost brought tears to my eyes and my Hubby squeezed my hands in glee. We almost cried out loud to the doctor when switch off the machine. She looked at us and smiled. I wonder how many excitable first-time parents she had seen that day alone.



We were given a print-out of the ultrasound of our baby and I will scan it here soon. Very soon. And like all other excitable first-time parents we couldn't stop looking at it!!!

Oh BTW Hubby asked the doc if it was ok for us to travel. She asked us to stop travelling at least until after the 12 weeks are over. We smiled sheepishly and the doctor guessed that we already had plans. She told us to be careful and drive slowly. And no more travelling till after the 12 weeks!!! hehe looks like we'll be staying home for the first time on the next public holiday!!!

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