A year older, a year wiser

just a quick one...

A big shout out to Miah.. Happy birthday Girl.. as the title say, a year older, a year wiser.. Not that you are not tho.. hehe and thanks for the heads up re Manggis Mall.. hehehe Sikit lagi kami kn kesana actuallynya.. hehehe

My eldest brother also shares the same birthday so Happy Birthday Bang.. You are 32 now.. hehe 

Dinner at Villa Mauri

As we all grow older and begun to settle down, we find that it gets more difficult to hang out and spend time with our friends. Well lets face it, the hours in the day remains at 24 hrs where we spend approximately 6-8 hours sleeping/resting, 8 hours working, approximately 4 hours doing other stuff like cleaning oneself, eating, traveling, which leaves about 4 hrs of leisure time. Back in the day, this 5 hours are usually spent with after work drinks and hanging out with friends. Since i have been married or even before when i was busily preparing for my wedding, these extra hours are spent with the husband and i guess this is normal but some just fails to understand that. Its not like we do not want to hang out with you,its just that time is limited for us. What I am trying to say is that understanding the situation goes a long way..

but I do cherish the times we spend together and i enjoy the company. Therefore I like to take opportunities like someone's birthday to get together and 'hang out' like old times. The most recent one is Dinner in celebration of Boo's birthday at Villa Mauri. Below are peektures taken by Anjai and stolen from his Facebook! hehe

Villa Mauri

Adam

Villa Mauri staff singing and bringing out the Birthday cake for Carol

Carol cutting the cake while Mummy looks on

All of us that evening + Anjai who was behind the camera and Adam's head hehe

Adam playing with stickers

'I wander what this is.. Could it be a million dollars?'

Fakhirn & Amal

Adam still playing with the Stickers and Mas so amused by something that someone said

Adam & Popo

and before we left, Mas gave my baby an early 'welcome gift'. Thank you Mas!! It is not something that's in my list of thinga to buy but it is something that both Anjai & I want to buy.. Baik jua kami belum bali and it was so funny that we both want to buy it but never shared the fact with each other.. hehe again, Thank you Aunty Mas!!

Well need i say more about this picture? yg 2 org tu menyampuk when they saw us pose! :P

Oh and Thanks Mas for organizing the dinner. Food was great but the Company was even better.

and she turns..

Happy Birthday Boo.. How old are you today? hehehe 

And so its Monday and we are all still in bed at home or doing leisurely things.. Wishing all who celebrates CNY a happy happy Gong Xi Fa Cai and may you have a great year ahead..

So another monday means that baby turns another week older and a week closer to welcoming baby into the world and holding him/her in my arms.. Baby turns 32 weeks today.. The weekly calendar says that i should expect less movements from now onwards as baby has now limited space to pay/swim around in so i should not panic! hehehe

As i grow bigger i find that i am more restricted.. Sleep is less comfortable and my back aches even more. One of Anjai's relatives last night told me that having a local massage (urut kampung) actually helps her. It made her sleep better at night and also her tummy is not as tight. Another relative says that the local massage will help 'position' the baby so that it is ready to come out and that helps during labor. Listening to all that temps me to try however the voices of the hospital authorities keeps on ringing in my head ('Jgn Urut Kampung') and the story that i heard from HP Rock re the lady who had internal bleeding after having the local massage! So what now? Should i or should i not? Mcm sounds siok, nyaman beurut tapi berijap.. Should i give in to the temptation?

Oh i mentioned a couple of posts ago that i feel itchy.. well, the itch has intensified! I know that stretch marks are inevitable when u are pregnant (mainly bcos we expand soo much!) but i cant help but feel sad that some has begun to appear.. Anjai has proven to me that i do scratch in my sleep! Apparently i scratch so much that he felt the bed move (banar kah inda jua ni) YIKES! I think, usually if i start to feel the itch i will put the lotion on but maybe the lotion is not working for me.. Any suggestions? I currently use Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula.. oh and TC, no tying hands to bed pls.. hehe

Oh speaking of TC, she suggested months ago that i should put up a poll to guess which gender the baby will be and seeing as i now have 8 weeks left, the poll is up! Happy voting peeps! (I for one have no preference, as long as baby is sihat and sempurna *amin* but the comments that we receive so far is that its a girl.. *tee hee*)

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Hi di ho! How's everyone this weekend? It's sunday but i doesn't feel like a sunday! mainly because we all have a day off tomorrow and we don't have to face another 'Monday' hehehe (siok ah?)

Happy Gong Xi Fa Cai to everyone.. Usually we will go over to my dad's side of the family on CNY eve to celebrate but according to daddy dear, no celebrations will take place this year cos all of my father's siblings have converted and embraced Islam as their religion. Much like Anjai did, about a year ago (Cant believe its been almost a year since he converted and we got engaged *tee hee*) But we will go and visit one of Anjai's uncle tomorrow.. hehe

Oh tomorrow is also one of my very good friend's birthday.. Happy Advanced Birthday Boo! I am very much looking forward to the dinner at Villa Mauri hehe that place is supposed to be very good, so i guess we will find out tomorrow evening hehe

Oh i am being very random... I better stop before i begin not to make any sense! LOL

Power Outage

Sorry for the lack of updates peeps! Work has been hectic and krazee lately.. With the power outage we experienced yesterday morning and another one this afternoon, it is cutting down on my productivity level (Stress No 1)! We can't check our mails cos server is down, we can't do work on PC cos .. well yeah no karan!

And not to mention, my boss chasing me at every corner to get things done(Stress No 2).. I understand that he wants most things covered before i go on leave but all the added stress is not helping.. *sigh*

Then last night my mum told me about a comment my dad made about my tummy.. Apparently its riding low and he is scared that i might deliver before EDD! *yikes!* (Stress number 3?) I hope that doesn't happen to me I am not THAT prepared yet! So should i sterilize and set up nursery now? LOL

Need to get things done

Ola peeps! How's everyone doing this fine, cool and gloomy Monday morning? Do i sound cheerful? Well i am not.. Having serious case of Monday blues and apparently i am not the only one facing that today, my boss too.. so i hope he understands if i slack a bit.. *tee hee*

Speaking of work, i have about 8 weeks left of work and its gonna be hectic. I have a couple of things that needs to be cleared up not minor items but big ones! Not only that i need to train my colleague to be able to handle the projects while i am away and train my new staff to handle some of my duties while i am away.. I guess i have no choice but to start bringing home some work (one that i try and have been successfully avoiding for the past 2 years!) *sigh* but apa nya orang, desperate times calls for desperate measures!

So baby turns 31 weeks today! Yeayy.. As the chart says below, baby will now decrease growth but will gain weight the rest of the pregnancy.. So expect me to get bigger than i already am! i have already gained approximately 9 kgs throughout the whole pregnancy, lets see how heavy i will be by the time i am ready to give birth! hehe

I realised last night that i haven't placed much photos of myself and tummy so here goes! hehe

My tummy at 31 weeks! (well actually 30 weeks, 6 days, 21 hrs? haha rounding up saja ah!)

Yours truly besides the baby cot

And as you can see, we have filled the cot with all the stuff we have bought for baby so far! Glad to advise that we have 8 more items to cross off our list! yeayy.. Oh if you see closely there were some items that we didn't plan to buy but beli jua cos kiyut or we thought would be useful.. hehehe Forgive first time parents will you? LOL

cramps and itches!

My leg cramps is back! I had the worst cramp ever last night while sleeping.. It started with my left leg first then my right but the pain in the left was very persistent.. I did the usual stretches but the feeling was still there, even when i woke up! yikes!

and not only is my cramps back, but so is the itch! Now I know i am not suppose to scratch since it will only make the stretch marks more visible but honestly i scratch a couple of times! *tee hee* i now walk around with lotion and oil in my bag so i can put the stuff on my tummy to make the itch go away and resist the feeling of wanting to run my finger nails across the said area. Which reminds me can i put lotion my nips kah? Cos those itch like MAD! but i dont dare put any lotion on it.. 

I was hoping to get a call from Shopaholic today but i guess the stuff hasn't been delievered to her place yet :( Oh well, maybe tomorrow or monday.. hehe Have a  good weekend peeps! We are off to visit Alya again tonight and hoping to catch her have her bath tomorrow morning. MIL and SIL says that she puts on quite a show when she is in the water! hehe

hip hip horray its Friday!

Thank God Its Friday! Cos i am uber pooped! I feel so drained and i look forward to rejuvenate over the weekend! Although we have a couple of things lined up but i am hoping we can keep our Sunday open for a for day of resting and lazing about. *tee hee*

Looking at the list of items that i need to buy for baby, i am almost there, almost done! hehe I got a call from Shopaholic yesterday and she has duly informed me that the stuff i asked her to buy for me is finally here!!! yeayy.. oh i am super excited to open up the bed sheets and set the nursery up! although maybe i shouldn't since i am still 2 months away.. Krg i have to re-sterilize everything.. Double the work, double the fun? (i think not)

Ok enough doodling for me this morning and i better get started with my piles and piles of work! Have a good Friday peeps and have a good weekend!

Al-Fatihah

We would like to convey our deepest condolences to my team mate and a very dear friend, Emi Dalina and her family who just lost their mother yesterday afternoon. I am so sorry for your loss..

I have never experienced losing someone close to me and to say 'i know how you feel' will be a lie as i can only imagine the grave feeling of lost. I cannot offer any comfort, i can only offer my prayers.. I pray for your strength and courage to get through this tough time.

Semoga Rohnya di cucuri rahmat dan di tempatkan dengan orang orang yang beriman.. Aminn..

~Al Fatihah~

Drive Safe peeps!

It has been raining heavily lately with exception of Sunday morning.. Nice and Cool weather and it makes me want to pull my comforter up my chin a little bit longer each morning. With that i do hope everyone drives extra carefully.. Jalan licin...

I find that i gravitate towards sweet things lately.. I have been having a constant crave of chocolates and ice cream.. Even in the cool weather pun i eat ice cream! I hope it does not increase my sugar level!

I have placed an extra list on the side and it says In Baby Box and changed things to pack to In Mummy's Bag. Well as you can see, the list entails the things that we need to pack and keep ready in our car. . I think i have included all things (and also trying not to pack everything) but feel free to highlight in case i miss anything out. hehe

Speaking of labor, prior to my SIL giving birth in RIPAS I never knew that you can request for an Epidural Anesthetics. I thought that those were only given to mothers who are undergoing Caesarean Section only and all this while i thought all mothers that went through normal birth does it naturally, i.e. no pain killers. So as usual i googled it and read up on it and found that Epidural is quite commonly used and it relives mothers of the pain. However it does prolong labour period as mothers is unable to feel the contraction and hence they can only push when the midwife tells them to. It also reduced blood pressure and hence the nurses will need to constantly monitor mother and baby' blood pressure which means you will get hooked up on a bunch of machines for monitoring purposes and IV fluids. And some also say that post Epidural, women experience more backpain and in their subsequent labor after that they will again, require Epidural in order for them to cope. I don't know how much of that is true, this is all based on my reading and also discussion with some friends.

It does however effect my decision (which of course will get trumped whilst i am in Labour). Insyallah i hope i will be able to withstand the pain and insyallah will resist Epidural Anesthetics. Pray to god i will have an easy and safe delivery. Amin.

Busy Monday

I woke up with a serious case of Monday blues this morning! The rain didn't help either LOL I just looked at the clock and it says that its 11am and i am thinking, already? Boss is back in the office and with that comes a lot of work to be done.. *sigh*

Happy 30 weeks to baby! This means that i have approximately 10 more weeks to go and 10 more weeks to prepare for labor and also baby's arrival.. According to the calendar below, baby weighs almost 3 pounds now! hehe

Looking at my list of things to buy, i think we are halfway done and most of the major things are ready to be sterilized and used. I also mentioned a couple of post ago that our vendor sent us the wrong cot and they finally sent us the correct one! I was so tempted to set up the nursery just to see how it looks like but shall wait until the actual sheets i ordered arrives.. *looks over to Shopaholic* hehe

I think i'm in love.. With Alya that is..

SO how is everyone enjoying their sunday? Husband is at a friend's wedding in KB and he has commissioned me to stay at home and rest as we had busy and long day yesterday. And i now find that i tire easy.. I guess all the weight is getting to me!

So the day started with me attending at work thing in the morning then we headed off to Swensen to have my Fondue (since Haagen Dazs nada, Swensen will make due to feed off my crave!) and then we headed over to Anjai's place. We were welcomed with Alya's shouts! She was crying and wanting to be fed by hr mummy.. hehe Everytime she wakes up she screams! hehe I read somewhere that babies sleep better when they sleep on thier belly so i gave it a try and placed baby Alya on my belly. She slept soo well! Below are some photos taken..

Yuwa girl with Baby Alya 

Do you think Alya was making contact with her cousin in my tummy? hehe I think so.. I think babies have their own language that only they understand.. hehe

Alya mata sipit.. Mcm Cina kan.. hehehe

I finally got my SIL that breast pump and also got her some Fenugreek supplement from Nature's Farm. I told her what my friends told me, drink lots of Milo and liquid and think positive while feeding/pumping. I do hope her production will increase for her.. oh i have also witnessed the first pump and I was AMAZED! I can't wait for my first time.. hehe

Oh i finally fed my crave for Burger Kings and Haagen Dazs Ice Cream! Thank you, thank you, thank you R!! Very very much appreciated! I think my baby loves u alreadyyyy! hahaha Thank you again... Safe to say i slept very very well last night! tee hee

Congratulations SIL & Hubby

I am proud to announce that my SIL has given birth to a healthy baby girl on the evening of 7th January 2009! Alya Shazia was born at 6.44pm (i think) and she weighs at 3.2Kg! hehe Mother went through a tough ordeal but alhamdulilah she went through Normal birth with epidural injection.

This is Alya's first picture.. I hid a camera in my bag and took a picture when the midwife was not looking.. hehehe

Alya in Nurses' arm

Close up, Alya with eyes open

Mummy and Alya being wheeled to the Ward

Proud Grandfather in Orange and Uber estatic Uncle in Black.
Lady with baby must be thinking 'Whats wrong with this guy in black?' LOL

Alya sleeping peacefully

Happy Mummy

*Yawn* Alya: Ok Good night world, Time for me to sleep now..

Planning to Succeed

Its day 3 in the office and happy to report that i FINALLY have the motivation to work! haha I finally have that extra chirp whilst replying my mails and composing my letters.. So what have i been doing for the past 2 days that i am here? I honestly have no idea.. haha Well i was just getting by and doing minimum work as much as possible. I reckon its the nutella i had this morning that made me feel like the sun is shinning.. hehehe

SIL has yet to give birth yet but the last update i recieved is that she is now inside the labor room so any minute now i guess.. haha lets all pray for an easy and safe delivery and a healthy kicking baby for her.. Amin

So during our visit yesterday we took the opportunity to have a look around the ward. And here are our observations (or at least mine and i think Anjai is onboard with what i think).
1. It was overcrowded, uber busy and should i am admitted there there will be no rest
2. The nurses were not exactly friendly and they seem to be zooming past us all the time (i guess since they have so many patient)
3. Toilets were in ok condition but mcm berijap

So with those observations came our action plan! *har har* Should my contractions begin, Anjai shall drive me to Tutong Hospital and should there be a need for me to be admitted to RIPAS, Anjai, Friends and Family shall 'contribute' to my occupying the 1st class rooms as opposed to the normal ward. We have asked around and i think we now know how to go about it. But shall look into it further this afternoon when Anjai and I visit the sister and her baby.. hehe So if you are still not clear as to what the plan is, Plan A- Tutong and if that somehow fails, Plan B - RIPAS but shall fight with all might for a 1st class room! *tee hee*

Back to Reality

Its Monday and i am back at work! It was extra hard for us to fall asleep last night as we were accustomed to sleeping past mid-night for the past 2 weeks but alhamdulilah waking up was not as hard as i imagined it to be. Although on my first alarm i thought it was time to Sahur! LOL And the other thing that got to me this morning was that i bet i would have to wake up even earlier once baby arrives i will need to feed him/her before going to work. hehe

Baby turns 29 weeks today and as usual, below is the fetal development for this week..

Baby has been very active lately, but i guess that is normal and at times it kinda hurt when he/she moves around.. but i am thankful cos the movements indicates that baby is well, alive and kicking *tee hee* Other than that Mummy has been feeling a lot of aches lately, especially on the lower backside.. erk! oh and i had my first Anti-Tentanus Toxoid shot and somehow after 5 days, my arm is still swollen! Is that normal? (time to text E13, who i hope is back in the country hehe)

I am still maid-less! 2 days ago i started to panic cos the aim was to have the maid at home by january so we can train her and stuff but to date we still haven't found one. Hopefully in a couple of days i will be able to have a look at some biodata from Agents as they said thier counterparts in Indonesia is still on leave.

Oh i am back to driving again, after a month of being driven around.. tee hee..

I better get cracking on my growing list of things to do! Have a good week y'all!

ETA: 11 weeks!

With the baby due to arrive in approximately 11 weeks time i have decided to put up a list of things that i should bring to the hospital when the time comes. Please feel free to highlight if i have missed out anything *tee hee*

We have made a lot of progress on the purchasing of baby items side. Yesterday the cot was suppose to arrive and it did BUT unfortunately it came in a different color! Hilang mood terus kan set up! haha

the day after..

new year's day that is.. Boy i am pooped!! 

Soon after the countdown on new year's eve, Anjai and I went to bed but was rudely awaken the next morning by the thought of having to attend my cousin's wedding in Lumut. So dengan tidak rela nya saya dan sang suami bangun dan pergi ke majlis perkahwinan itu.. Although i dreaded it but i guess it is a good way to kick of the new year.. Kicking it off as a married woman and to start the year off with your other half.

It is the second day of the year and Anjai's sister is due to give birth today so we are waiting for a text to inform us that she has.. But then again this is her first pregnancy and they say that labour will delay for a couple of day. I pray that all goes well for her.