Eh?

I almost forgot about this blog. Among my last few posts was that I was having a baby. Here I am now, with baby number two:) Gave birth to a a beautiful baby girl, Zari, on March 3rd. She weighted 4.028kg (yikes!). It's been a month now, and oh my, she's growing quickly. I should say her older sister Zara is taking it well, but she is only a year old and needs attention from us, and may I say, she DEMANDS the attention. I'd be holding Zari in one arm and few seconds later, Zara would jump to my other arm, giving my that sweet smile of her before bursting into tears, proving she too needs to be hold. Zara is turning into my little drama queen, but I sure miss her antics when she's not around. My two girls light my day, giving me all the more reasons to live, move forward and enjoy each meaningful second of my life. 

Where have I been?

A lot has happened since the last time I blogged. I'm not going to details. Why speak of the past when I can talk about the present? My baby is almost 8 months old. She can crawl and sit by herself :) Love her more everyday...

The H1N1 flu is a daily scare, especially since 3 pupils in my school have been infected by it. UI want to wish it away but reality stinks and the flu will stay as long as people are unwilling to change their bad habits.

Honestly, I'm loosing interest in blogging. It's no longer a necessity to type everything I'm thinking/planning daily. Perhaps its the busy life as a mother/wife which the fact is consuming most of my time, leaving me mere minutes for everything else I wish to do. I'd be lying if I say I'm not tired and I enjoy every minute of my busy life. The reality is, there are times I would just break down and cry, screaming to myself that I need help. But who can I turn to? After few minutes of self-pity, I would try to recover, and tell myself everything will be better tomorrow. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Self indulgence is a luxury I can no longer afford...

Maybe this is today... Who knows what I may say tomorrow? One thing I constantly tell myself, I can't imagine life without my baby and my husband.

Rest in Peace

Two families have lost their love ones this month. A friend lost her mother after years of battle with cancer. A relative lost their nine year-old daughter to appendicitis.

Pray for the people we lost to rest in peace and God bless their souls. Amin...

'Do not Stand at My Grave and Weep'

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die.

Mary Frye, 1932

Ego as Men's best friend

Men (particularly on the road) obviously think they own the road as they own everything else. Have you ladies out there out take a male driver and have him out take you over few seconds later? We'd be in a hurry to reach our destination, while he'd be too lazy holding on to the steering wheel, with the other hand is mightily (not) holding on to a cigarette. Come on! Windows down, hand out, cd booming aloud, oily face (euuggh) that is so last season man! And they say female drivers are the worst. We're not the ones having trouble turning the wheel cos our hand is busy holding on to the cigarette or our tyre rim is damn too wide to steer ata corner(especially to those with TINY cars).
Talking about tiny cars, let me say I'm soooo hating them. May it be Mazda2, Serion, Kancil and including Vios. Gosh, have you ever noticed the way these cars park? They park like a Hummer damn it. Peeps, drive your car as it is. Your 1.3cc engine wont go faster just because you switch the airi-cond off. Please don't embarass yourself. 1.3 vs 3.5 v6? C'mon!

Charity DPMM-FFBD

More pictures here

Random pics - Flag Hoisting

More pictures here

Baby Myths VS Logic

Through out my (almost) 9 months of pregnancy, I have heard all kind of myths and taboos associated with pregnancy. I am sure most of mom-to-be or anyone who had gone through pregnancy probably know what I'm talking about. The taboos and so-called jinx doesn't stop after pregnancy, I was bombarded with more and more illogical and almost fictional so-called facts after my labor.

Most popular taboos/myths during/after pregnancy:

1. Frequent massage (urut) during pregnancy to help the baby move downward sooner.
2. Do not leave the house in the evening or you would supposedly loose the baby (they say, an evil spirit will steal (kidnap?) the unborn baby.
3. Use 'air selusoh' to help you deliver the baby easier.
4. Use a talisman/amulet (tangkal) - To rid the evil spirit who can possess you and make you go crazy
5. Swaddle the baby or she'll walk like a duck (most annoying)
6. Don't let the baby look upward, it'll lead to epilepsy (sawan)
7. Mother's shouldn't leave the room for 40days.
8. Tie both toes using black fabric for.. (hmm.. I'm not sure about this one)
   

The list goes on and on...

1. Inappropriate massage may cause the baby's umbilical cord to move and choke the baby. Doing simple exercises/activities and walking around can help. The baby will move when she's ready.
2. Unborn baby mysteriously disappears. Has this ever happened recently? You seem to keep hearing people say, "Dulu-dulu" (Long time ago) where there were no ultrasounds. It could have been a molar pregnancy.
3. Air Selusoh - If you did use it, you probably ended up with easy or hard labor. Duh! Do you have any other possibilities? Labor and pregnancy are different for each women. If you use air selusoh, and end up with easy labor, they'll say "thanks to the air selusoh". If you end up with a hard and difficult labor, they'll say "you should've tried the other air selusoh or "yatahnah ko nda pakai selusoh". Guess what, I had a normal labor, and I didn't use air selusoh.
4. Talisman to rid evil spirit. Now, as a believer, we all know there are spirits everywhere, may it be day or night. Some female may suffer pregnancy induced hypertension during and even after pregnancy. Emotional changes are common to new mothers. And these can lead to stress and even depression. I, myself have went through these and I wasn't possessed!
5. Swaddling - I only swaddle my baby when she is going to sleep. You should stop swaddling your baby once she is about a month old because after that it can interfere with mobility and development.
6. Babies looking upward. Babies like bright lights and colors.They can't focus on an object so they tend to look at other object or light that attracts them. They may even be looking at their eyelashes!
7. Stay in my room for 40 days? Now this is probably the reason why women in the old days went crazy...
8. No comment...
   

Now you may choose to beleive what your mom tells you.. "Karangnya ketulahan... " You know what, just nod your head and say yes to everything she says :)

Result Sekolah Ugama 2008

RESULT SSSRU_2008 DOWNLOAD

First Post for 2009

I haven't blogged for a while. Taking care of baby Zara sure is challenging. She's not much a crier, but God, she can scream. She likes the attention. She sleeps when people are around, as if the noise that we make are comforting to her. When the lights and televisions are turned off, the peace and quiet seems to disturb her. She'd churn in her sleep, making jerky movements and then wails until we hold her in our arms. While talking to her, she'd look into our eyes, wondering what we're talking about, smiling once in a while, and if we're lucky, we'd hear her cute laughter.

She had her first 1 month check up last week. Wow, it's been a month. Time is passing by so fast, and I swear she is growing before my eyes. The day she was born, she weighed 3.2kg with a height of 53cm. On her 1 month check up, she weighed 4.3kg and measured 55cm. She had her shot which was accompanied by a flu few days later. I felt sorry for her. When the flu finally receded, she started having sore throat. I felt like crying hearing her throaty cry.

She got better in less than a week though. Ironically enough, the flu seems to bring a new side of her. She starts making cute sounds and she can concentrate better when looking at an object or people.

She was circumcised yesterday. I couldn't really look, worrying that she may bleed and cried furiously in pain. But no, everything went well. She cried for a few seconds, mostly of surprise than pain.

Someone asked me, if my husband is still the best thing that happened to me. Yes my husband is the best thing that happened to me, and he brought Zara with him...

Wk 38 - A new member in the family

December 26. Hubby and I were doing shopping for the upcoming baby. I've been avoiding and missing prenatal appointments for the past couple of weeks. Shopping seem to take my mind off things.

By 6pm, while we were at my in laws, my back started to ache. I thought the whole day shopping and the weight of the baby in my belly were causing the ache. The ache came and go within few minutes apart. I tried lying down and resting in hopes that it would ease the ache.

We went to Fratini's later. I was having ice caffe latte with my favorite roast duck with orange glaze, with caesar salad plus extra smoke salmon. I enjoyed the meal despite the fact my back was starting to strain even more. I suddenly had trouble walking. Hubby was starting to worry and insisted we go to the hospital. But I convinced him I was just having a back ache.

Back at home, after having warm shower, I tried to sleep but couldn't. The ache was turning into a dull pain that shot from my pelvis to back. I was gripping my pillow and bed every time the pain shot through. The pain kept coming every 5 minutes giving me no chance of sleeping. At 3am, I told my hubby that we should probably go to the hospital first thing in the morning if the pain continues. I tried resting again, but no luck. By 4am, my hubby woke up to find me in cold sweats, with my hands gripping the pillow trying to calm the pain. Without any argument, we quickly decided to go the hospital.

When we reached the hospital by 4.30 am, I could barely walk. As told by the nurses before, I should go straight to the labor room if I feel any pain. So I did. I got into the admission room 1st where they did a check up while my hubby waited outside. Suddenly, then nurse told me, "6cm, you're ready, Change your clothes and give them to your husband".

December 27, 6am, after 2 hours of pain but a successful normal delivery, we finally meet our little sweetheart...