Welcome Trimester 2!!!!!!

This means I’m now in my 2nd trimester. I have to admit, although the appetite isn’t too good, but the nausea has reduced by 80%. I’m happier than before.

I am now able to stay up at night till 10pm the latest and still survive the day after. Truly an achievement after having 8pm as my bed time for sometime……

Nabil is reacting well to the concept of having a new baby. Sara Ayesha is still gasping on the idea of having a sibling. The more I try to explain to her, the more she wants to be nursed. And I’m trying ever so hard to stop nursing her. We’re down to nursing at night and during travel (she can’t resist nursing in the car, I’m thinking its something like me not being able to resist sleep in the car…lol)

In the mean time…..School reopens 6th Jan 2010. Nabil will be in K1 and Ayesha will be in Pre K (hope I got their classes right). It’ll be Ayesha’s first year in school. Not that she’s never been to a ‘school’ before as she was doing Tumble Tots since she was 6 month old. But this is everyday school. Can’t believe my kids have grown so much…

Still remember Nabil’s first day at school (it was only last year). He just went in and left us parents standing at the gate. Wonder how Ayesha will do…Nabil had the upper hand of spending some time with his teacher during the registration. For Ayesha, we didn’t bother coming in for registration….it was all done vie the phone & internet. Sunggu maju kita sekarang. But then again, Ayesha has been to the school many times before this. So that’s a plus point for her. We’ll just have to wait and see. I bet you this anxiety will be triple fold when they start primary.

Facebook

I like it. It sorts of gets you connected to others without having to talk. For people like me, who do not socialize much, its great.

But I do realize there are several ethics that one should adhere. For instance, respect. Everyone gets a chance to say something but its like this. My page is my home, I should be able to say anything I want. Therefore, if you don’t like it just ignore it. Don’t try to be a smart alec. Just respect the other’s persons interest. Read it if u want, but shut up if I don’t have anything good to say. In other words, Thou shall enter the house but Thou shall not be rude. Got something nasty to say, use your own page. Say what u want in your own page.

Although, your page in your home….it isn’t your bed. So, if you have something private to say to your love ones..keep it private. Seriously, if last night was great, it was really great….you don’t need to announce it on FB..unless of couse you are so insecure that you need to be re-assured.

Sharing is good. I love it when a friend shares her adventures and experiences. You get to imagine other’s life and perhaps spice up your own life. Just because someone put some nice pictures of their holiday doesn’t mean that they’re showing of. Take it positively and be aspired to achieve as what others have.

Hell, I’m not prefect, neither are you.

I love my life and my family. I may not be super rich but I’m comfy. I don’t keep up with the Jones. I just live my life. Always had and always will. I do no pretend to be something when I am not.

P#3 W11

Morning sickness seems to be slowly kicking out of my system. I now try to maintain a 7 meals a day diet. Detrimental to my weight? Really hope not. My diet kindda looks like this

Breakfast : 2 pcs of whole meal bread

Morning Break : Anmum milk + what ever I have on my table

Pre lunch : Nasi with Ikan bakar & ulam

Lunch : something at home

Post lunch : Fruits & snacks

Tea : Crackers with cheese

Dinner : something at home + dessert

There you go, and still last night, after that steak dinner (which didn’t all settled in my tum tum), I wanted Roti pisang. But because I was not in the mood to go out , just in case Ayesha wanted me, I didn’t have anything. What happened instead was the steak coming out. Moral of the story…if I feel like having something, better get it else the rest of my tummy isn’t gonna be happy. Later, I settled for a midnight snack of Maggi whilst watching Twilight.

Believe or not, with this increase in the number of meals, my tummy looks smaller. My guess is that its less bloated now.

In the mean time, I’m still working on my conversations with Ayesha. I need her to stop nursing. I know I’m gonna miss her and she’s gonna miss me, but we’re gonna have to work something out. After all, Ayesha will be starting school next month. She’s excited, so I might just use that…

Pregnancy #3

I'm entering my W10. How am i doing? blah.... Still struggling at keeping my food in. But things are getting better. Alhamdulillah.

I'm so set to get the Medela Freestyle. I've found a site offering it at RM1500. That...is such a great deal compared to RM2300 retail price. I hope the offers lasts till June 2010.

To complement my Fs, i'll need to get some playtex liner. Think i'll get 2 boxes, 1 of the 4oz and 1 of the 8oz. Gotta clean up my steriliser, haven't used it for more than a year...:) What else....oh yeah, makes sure that Mama does not stock up too many things in the freezer. Thank god for the standalone freezer at home. I'll aim to fill up at least 2 drawers during my confinement. I do hope my plan goes well....

For now, my wish list looks like this :

1. Medela Freestyle
2. Wrap.....still have yet to figure out the perfect one for me, but i'm sure i'm gonna be needing one, with 2 kids around me, baby will have to be worn....:)
3. Rumparooz gumball
4. Muttaqin NB

haha, i'm pretty sure this list will grow.

W7 of 3rd Pregnancy

I’m just so tired all the time. I do agree that during this first trimester the body is adjusting and working really hard. My lack of food intake isn’t helping.

Comparatively….

1st pregnancy – Just concentrate on getting thru the day. Travel from home to work and back home.

2nd pregnancy – Getting thru the day with Nabil beside me. Travel from home to work/mom’s place and back home, with Nabil in the car.

3rd pregnancy – Getting thru the day with Nabil & Ayesha. Travel from home to school to work to school to work and back home, with 2 kids in the car. Ayesha’s still breastfeeding.

During all pregnancies, I’m maidless. This time around I’ve resorted to no cooking. But still I’m tired…

And its a number 3...

Since I hardly made any records during any previous pregnancies, this time around I think I’ll do it. Because I can hardly remember the details of my previous pregnancies and I wish I had….So, this is it.

30/10/2009 (Friday) – I decided to do a self test. Had no recollection of my previous menses…at all. But one this is for sure, I’ve not had my menses since I sent the maid back on 29/9/2009. My belly is so bloated and I’m very emotional. Heck, I deleted a friend from my Facebook simply because I can’t stand her idiotic school girl behaviour of having to win all the time. ‘Girl, eve if u want to win…do it in your own life…’ So, got back from work, told DH that I wanted to get a kit from Gurdian ( I got a simple Gurdian brand kit as it says there 99% accuracy as per laboratory test), pick up the kids from Trops and head home. Put the kids to bed, and my turn to mandi. Did the test first…3 drops that’s all I needed. I could see the lines, but decided to ignore it until 3 minutes (that’s what the instruction said) After 3 mins, DH was anxious, he peaked first….then me…We’re both happy with the result, although we didn’t plan it…but nonetheless, we’re excited…

I’ve my doubt because a friend ask..All 3 was positive? Hahahah, I only did 1 test..OMG.
31/10/2009 (Saturday) – Told the kids early in the morning. They’re excited. Started taking my supplements today. Eating meals as normal. Looking for a new Dr..

2/11/2009 (Monday) – Set an appointment with Dr Siti for tomorrow. Used my loose pants, I started the day with it fully buttoned, by 10am, one button had to be undone, By the end of the day, I wanted to take off my pants…Eating meals as normal.

3/11/2009 (Tuesday) – Finally after waiting for hours, saw the Dr and she confirms that I’m 5 weeks. Due date is 7/7/2010 according to the scan. That was quick!

5/11/2009 (Thursday) – Drank my milo in the morning a bit too quick I think. Lack of sleep last night as we were fighting Nabil’s fever & the kids wanted to watch TV from 2-5am. Threw out a bit before my bath. Had French toast for breakfast, that went out too….:(

The good and the bad..

I’m truly happy that my son didn’t have his bottled formula milk yesterday. The whole day went by without a single sip or even a mention of his ‘nenen’.

Well, 4 yo Nabil had been down to 3 bottles a day. One on the way to school, one on the way home from school and one before bed. I have been giving him and making sure he takes his glass of milo on the way to school. I like the family to take milo in the morning and I make it with milk instead of the Malaysian favourite of milo kosong.

For his on the way home nenen, I replaced it with some cookies/crackers or a bun.

Now, the final touch….how do u replace that last bottle that he takes before he falls asleep? I decided to make Hot Chocolate after dinner. Young man drank a mug and asked for more. Another mug and he was happy. Then we did the going to bed routine (minus the bottle) and he fell asleep.

I slept smiling as now Nabil is moving to a new stage…J also the fact that I’m almost out of formula and I won’t be thinking of buying more….

On the other side, I spoke to Dr Zarin on Nabil’s snoring. (I’m not talking childlike snores, he snores like an adult). Nabil’s tonsils are big. Dr Zarin says that most probably his adenoids are also big. Since Nabil has been complaining about his hearing, so that could also be related :(. I’ve read about this situation on the net and most of the time the next step is surgery as the condition causes him to stop breathing during his sleep…sleep apnea la pulak…

Helpers from Hell

We sometimes hear stories about maids being abused and all kinds of thought cross our minds. On the other hand, we also hear about maids being great and stay on till the kids gets married and have kids of their own.

Good or bad, it all depends on luck?

Back in the days when Malaysian took in local helpers, it was good. Well, it had to be good as the children are left with the maid at home. No CCTV or whatever. Helpers would cook, clean, take care of kids and some even do gardening.

Today, Malaysian mostly take in Indonesian helpers. So we hear of all the horror stories. About kids being poisoned, abused, husbands being seduced etc. Some of us read of these events thinking that it’ll never happen to U.

For instance, I read about the Nirmala case and I’m hinking….how could one be so bold? But, you could.

Live in helpers are expected to help and employers depends on them. If the helpers are not here to work but instead thought that coming to Malaysia was a ticket to get out of Indonesia…well, Houston we have a problem.

Personally, I’ve had my own experience. Helper was lazy, biadap (rude) and dirty.

Things that almost drove me mad was

She wouldn’t wake up on her own. Since I’ll be breastfeeding my daughter, hubby would have to wake her up everyday. Set an alarm for her, she’ll just turn it off.
Milk bottles were dirty.
Ironing 3 pieces of shirt while I’m out the whole day?????
She never cleans her room
She sleeps anywhere she fancies.
Used the kitchen scissors to cut her hair or some ‘bulu’ and put it back in the utensils drawer unwashed. After this event, the house had hair/bulu all over the place. When told to tidy up, she didn’t. So I had to vacumn the whole house.
She had this tendency to put her hand in my handbag to ‘search’ for things like the house keys. Then smirks when I told her off. ‘Ibu takut saya curi barang?’
washed shoes in the kitchen sink using children bowl for holding the soap??? There were clean plates & glasses on the sink as well. Normally she washes shoes in the toilet.

Arghhhhhh……for 3 months she drove me crazy. Nonetheless, I had to keep her for the agent was not ready to take her back. I put no reliance on her and just had her do things like tidy up after meals (which was either cooked by me or bought). Putting things into the car.

After endless scolding, I found that she had been talking to some of MY RELATIVES and she thinks that she’s doing just fine and I’m a plain bitch. I do hope that some people do not interfere in my life cause u’re just making things worse and U really have other things to do in your life.

Well, Bedah was my Nirmala minus the scars.

Milk booster

This post acts as a reminder to me..should i need it later in life.

Things that help mummy's milk production.

1. Oats
I add this to my drink or consume the 3-in 1

2. Dates
Ate Kgs of Kurma Mariam during confinement. Blended pitted dates with milk works wonders for me....served cold.

3. Sawi / mustard
Green vege...take in any way...soup or stir fry

4. Lobak putih
Soup

5. Fanugreek / halba
Took 1 teaspoon a day. A bit heaty for me...

6. The pill from Amway set bersalin...during confinement, this helped boost my milk supply.

To ensure, any of these works, one must consume enough water on a daily basis. Have a healthy diet. Drink milk daily....and try to exercise...

Lazy

Feeling Lay-zeeee. Not in the mood.

Grobaby review

Since i decided to revamp the kid's diaper stash for the 3rd time (i think), I've been searching for 'the' diaper.This time around I decided on the AI2 system. Why? Because pocket is pricey, fitted is like putting on 2 diapers and AIO takes too long to dry (plus my dryer isn't working anymore). So, the cheapest is AI2.Initially, I opted for Daisy Doodle and some prefold. A place that has both..Tiny Tapir.
At this point, tinytapir had just opened its shop at Ampang Park. So, off i went to their shop.I was pretty dissapointed that the Daisy Doodle was still in Damai, but was impressed with its new product Grobaby.I took 1 shell set which consists of 1 shell, 1 soaker and 1 doubler. That's RM105. To make it economical, I added a set of soaker, RM72 for 2 pieces. Pretty good. For RM177, i now have 3 diapers.The colours are the same as Dream Eze, because they come from the same source...duh! I opted for Purple, i mean, how wrong can i go with purple...its my fav colour.
Went home and soaked it in hot water. Then rinsed it by hand and chuck it in the washing machine. Dried it and tada....I'm all set to try it. Regardless of what the instructions says.The fit....good, DD who is 11kg fits in the L setting. Looks, its trim. :) I put on a mini skirt for her. Sooo cute! Absorbance is good, i mean, i didn't leak and DD is a pretty heavy wetter. Rash check....0k!
So, i figured we can get more soakers....yeah, wait till i sell the old diapers...Sold the old diapers, let's get more soakers...wait, what's this..unused soaker in the stash? uuhhh, she did #2 and soiled the shell. Now....i think we need more shell. So, i got another set of Shell and soaker. If i need some more, I'll just add the soaker...The soaker is so soft. Its organic cotton. Ayesha loves putting her bottom on it. I love it too. It really is absorbent. With this system, i don't mind using Cd for outings.
Bringing a change is minimal as i just need the soaker. It takes up little space in the bag (this is an issue when u need to bring things for 2 kids). But the soaker isn't like normal inserts, because its thick, it takes slightly longer to dry.And the soaker actually has a sewn on boaster and elastics on the sides.
What else do i like about Grobaby, the touchtape! Its soft. U won't ever scratch your baby with it, no matter how wriggly ur baby is.... :)
Now, it grobaby had a contest on diaper review...do u think I'll win one?

Cloth diaper for sale

DB hybrid RM37.00
Pink polkadots. Its a All in one and pocket. Size M.

GAD brown RM43.00 and GAD pink RM 43.00
Both GAD are pocket. Size Husky Medium.

Kissaluv RM 33.00
Both size 2. This is a fitted diaper. Take both and i'll throw in some doublers.

My Precious Baby by April... Diaper cover with lay in soaker. (diaper cover cum AI2)
Size L. RM45.00


Freshbots Dryz. A pocket diaper. Size L. RM20 each. Comes with the original soaker. Take the whole lot and I'll give you an additional soaker.

A view of all the diapers that needs new owners... Just in case i don't have enough time to upload.

ABC swaddlebees cover RM37.00

Brown colour. L size.

Freshbots Flower pocket RM35.00

Pocket onse size. Comes with 2 inserts (big & small)

MPBBA FLEECE COVER RM38.00 (booked: Kifana)

Diaper cover. Lilac with flowers at the tab. Fluffy and soft outer. Size L.

Babybeehinds RM56.00 (Booked : Kifana)

One size fitted bamboo.

Itti bitti RM57.00 (booked : cefwan)

M size. Brown. Used for a month only.

Bella bottom pink RM42.00 (Booked : kifana)

Fitted diaper. One size. Cute small flowers. (my picture is really bad)

Bella bottom purple RM42.00 (booked : kifana)

Fitted diaper. One size. Colourful teapots

p/s..I'll add more pictures when time permits.....