Epidural - YES or NO?

Now, I am in the mid of preparing my birth plan before my next appointment with Dr.J.

There are things and questions that start popping up and one of them is,"should I take epidural?"

From the books (mostly from the US) said it is an absolutely wonderful gift of the modern science to a delivering mother. But some mothers in minority advised me to endure the pain whenever possible as it does give side-effect like back pain, eventually. To me, the thought of injecting some fluids into the spine sends thrill and cause sweaty palms! Yikes!

So any comments from mothers, please? Or even fathers? ;P

Date w/Dad-dee - Raya eve

It was Raya Eve on Monday. The city was deserted much to our pleasure actually. Most of the construction work was ceased and our ears could actually feel the serenity. No traffic jam at all. Imagine Jalan Kuching with no jam! Hoooray! So I decided to have lunch with hubby who was still working...'working'?? Well, as he said, he needs to support the group from Perth who is NOT on holiday.

>> Me, about to go out meeting him.

By the way, may the Muslim friends enjoy their long weekend and safe journey to and fro Kampungs. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

x x x x x x

My Birthday...

Yes, it is my birthday today.
Dad-dee had planned for a little birthday party for mom-mee yesterday evening. How sweet...
I received ang pows from MIL and SILs. Sweet of them. Good to have sisters! Hehehehe....Bet my own brothers won't even remember my birthday. :P
Well, we had a simple cake cutting ceremony ( more fun for the kids as usual ) and it was of course special to me as next year I will be celebrating my birthday with the little one in me now!
And so, the count down for the due date is now 2 more months to go....

He is Back!

Yesterday passed by so quickly. I dashed to pick up Pn.Sharifah and we headed for a shop at PJ Old Town buying some ingredients and utensils to bake my 1st ever cake! Yes! It was a carrot cake.

Well, I did the cleaning and measurement actually....but the beating and mixing, she demonstrated. Fun.

Fetched him up @ the airport. The flight was delayed. Pity dad-dee was pretty hungry because MAS served lousy food this time according to him. But, lucky for him because mom-mee brought along the freshly baked cake for him... :P

Present

Yup, my birthday is approaching finally. Again, I got my present early this year from Dad-dee. A handphone. Finally I have got a handphone that can take pictures. ULU-nya. But hey, I have got digital cameras (again, my b-day present) and who really need a low resolution camera anyway? But I have to admit that couple with other features in the phone, it can be pretty handy to have the camera-feature in the phone. Thank you dad-dee, muuuahhhh!

Well, I guess my present always come 'not-that-easy' because I need to pick it myself. Hubby always said that 'u designers are very picky people, u better go choose it yourself'. Ok, this time around, we had again another episode of minor collision on this simply because I really had lost touch with the what-so-ever features, power, memories capabilities that a NORMAL handphone should have. So I was rather passive in choosing it.

But all well ends well, I got my phone now albeit again without birthday wrapper. ** Err...dad-dee ah, next year my birthday present can be in a proper birthday wrapper and be a surprise or NOT? ;P **

Ahhh, so happy today. I finally went for a swim again, thanks to the heavy down pour yesterday washing down a bit of the haze. And most importantly, we will be seeing dad-dee tonight, hor bb?

72 hours

Yes, since dad-dee left on Monday, I have been staying IN the house literally for 72 hours except for a day of lunch break at the TRIO lunch.

So today, I have decided to go out no matter what. I went out to Kepong to look out for some pricing for some electrical items. Some lamps/lighting fittings are really nice and of course chep-pa-lang brand China made. But hey, just like any fashion, it comes and go. So why buy a fitting that cost few thousands when one can afford it at only few hundred ringgit?

Dad-Dee and Perth

Dad-dee met his client earlier and do part of his task there already. Today he will be rather free it seems because the person in charge is on leave. He will be doing the sight seeing part in the afternoon after popping in the office in the morning. So nice.

Mom-mee is bored here. Or shall I say days passed me without any big ups and downs which is actually good for a preggy like me. My projects had been slow moving as they are now waiting to be approved by the councils and authorities (apa nak buat, dekat raya ma..). So meanwhile, I just lepak at home reading mails, news, books and cooking. Mundane but ok-la.

I hope to start to learn baking this week. Hope my friend Sharifah is available and all well to teach me while dad-dee is away. Mmmmm....chocolate cake, cheese cake, fruit cake....yummy-licious.

We miss u dearly, dad-dee.

Without Dad-Dee

Yesterday was special for me and baby. Dad-dee had left for Perth very early in the morning for a 5 days work. We sent him to KL Sentral station after having a rushed breakfast.

That was also my first ever 'seperation' with hubby ( if the bachelor nite was not counted la , :p ). Even if we were on family trips, we always have the privilege to be granted a room to ourselves, hehehehe. That is why we both felt a bit odd and having this feeling of seperation anxiety.

Baby was great yesterday. Knowing fairly well that dad-dee is away, he kept mom-mee entertained by a very constant communication till even late last night at 11.00p.m.. The punchings, boxings, twitchings, kickings, turnings had kept me constantly aware that I am not alone. Isn't he darling just like the father? :)



Dad-dee and his room in Perth. ------------>>

Antenatal Programme

Just last Thursday, hubby and I went for our 1st antenatal class. We were slot in between an earlier commenced class. It was at Pantai Medical Centre, Bangsar.

The session was about labour. Wow, a big topic for the 1st time mama like me. We were shown some slides; some nice ones and some worrying ones. Perhaps it was my emotions, it caused my bb turning up and down ever so excited and active that night. Then, we were ushered on to the 2nd Floor where the labour wards are. We were also shown some of the normal procedure and also how the preggy's legs being hooked onto some stripes. Yike, looks a bit daunting and seeing it in real life was rather different from watching them on screen. Well, at least, it is good to have seen it first than seeing it on for the 1st time on the 'labour' day. In the midst of the class, we heard in another ward not too far away, the mid-wive's going ' PUSH, now harder, PUSH!'

Then, in the middle of the class, we heard a very sweet voice which melted the mama's heart - the cry of a new born. So sweet indeed. A new life! :) Soon, we were taken up to the 'resting' ward, where we can see the babies warmly tucked in their cosy blankets waiting to be pushed to their mamas' rooms to be breast fed. So so so sweet.

9 more weeks to go. Well into 3rd trimester and as what the doctor said 'Eat less but frequent meals, you will tend to experience difficulty in breathing sometimes and tough to swallow a hearty meal'. True enough. But the weight part....how come it escalates so fast even with my normal meals? OMG!

On Saturday, we went for another class. A fun one this time. Teaching us how to do some simple exercise. Some done alone, some with dad-dee. It was fun and with the haze ever hanging in the air, it is actually a good idea to stay in door doing this simple exercise.

Informative and well organised. Good job, hospital and staffs. Though we think the price for the course could be lowered a bit la...he he he :P

Sun, swimming and haze

Finally I saw some ray of sun beam today and decided to plunge into the pool again after few days of pigging out and no exercise at all. No la, just the haze which is stopping me actually. Who dares to fill up the lungs with poisinous particles?

After the swim, I noticed in the big mirror that the dark line extended from my belly button is ever more prominent. Hmmm...they said this line will STAY after delivery and no matter how much you blot, splatter and rub your skin with stretch mark cream. Oh oh ...

To my special friend

Hey, to my special friend, Pru. This post is to a continuation of my previous post and it is specially for you! I mentioned that I should not take things for granted. So how can I take for granted that you have been thru with me thick and thin all these years??! and how can I miss out this one : HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! :) Blow candle please.....clap clap clap..cheers!
You know, you girls are special to me, always.

Taking Things for Granted

I have to say that sometimes I take for granted for a lot of things.
I guess a lot of people did the same. Today they are healthy, and so they eat and eat. Knowing that they can lowered down the blood pressure by consuming drugs, so they continue drinking and consuming fatty, high cholesterol food. The next thing you know, life takes its course and 'poof' they are gone just a second away - by stroke. Leaving behind the love ones..
Some, have all the money, time, youth to pursue in education. But all they know is to play and enjoy life. 'ppoooff' . When they realised it, they can't turn back the time. No.

And so on and so forth. I pray hard so that I will constantly stay humble, grateful and be alert, not only for myself now, but for my husband and for my baby. Simply because I love them. So much.

Shook!

It was a wonderful evening. Me and 2 close friends in Form 6 - Boon and Jan were again together reminiscing the old jokes and talking nonsense. Jan is back for a 2 weeks break with family from Shanghai where her husband is posted. She, a tai tai now. Only taking care of the boys at home but she is enjoying it. Good for her.

We had switched our venue from BSC to Starhill simply because our tai tai want to buy a Gucci bag. Gosh. It costs close to RM5k!!! Woow! But she did not buy it because it was not the colour that she wanted.

We proceeded to the Shook where the crowds were. Boon joint the membership so that we could grab seats reserved for members. We settled down and it took us some time to make our orders for it was not easy browing thru the 'phone book-thick' menu. They called it the Shook Bible.

We had a great great time talking. Mainly talking about pregnancy, delivery and taking care of babies since they were both moms now and the fact that I am a mother-to-be. Time flew past and they dropped at my place later for further chit-chatting session till past 12am!

It was great. It will be another long year before she comes back again next and that we shall meet and chat again.

Morphosis

To my baby : no picture of you and me when mommy is 'hybernating' and sicky during the 6-16th weeks. Just use a little bit of imagination la! :P We love U..so much!

Berpada-pada dengan Bahasa Anda

I remembered when I was in the primary school, our teacher, Mr.Ong set this rule in our class and for all the prefects : Whoever found spoken in the chinese dialects will be fined 50sen. 50sen during our time is BIG money and that could mean no meals for recess time later. But his intention was noble, to encourage us to speak Chinese, English or Bahasa instead. Thanks to him, we all speak fluent Chinese now. Afterall, the 50sen collected would be contributed to our class/prefects fund for our own benefit, so no complaint.

Today, the news goes like this : The Cabinet (I thought in Malaysia, law is passed by Parliament?) has given the Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka (DBP) the power to advise and fine anyone not using the national language correctly on signboards. Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim (man, you again ah?) said this was one of the measures being taken to streghthen the national language. ~as quoted in Star, 05 October 2006

Datuk said that the step was outlined by the Ministry of Education and his ministry and approved by Cabinet to make sure the national language is not side-lined ( a favourite hot word made popular by u know who ) in any way.

So, first thing first, I really don't know that our cabinet has this power. I have always thought that fine or penalty is carried out when one has offended any civil or criminal laws (written) in the country. So I really don't know that without any clear definition of 'kesalahan penggunaan Bahasa', the amount to be fined, a law can be made a law. Maybe we do practise adat bertulis and adat tanpa bertulis till today. Pardon me, I have to admit that I am just a normal naive woman, very very ignorance about law, politics and the kind. So I bag your pardon for being a bit confused here...

Secondly, I think if I were to teach and encourage my kids in the future to learn Bahasa, I would certainly not fine them for mistakes that they do. Instead, I would just advise them and show good example of not speaking bahasa pasar. I would rather speak clearly, pronounce it properly so that they could learn. I think if I were to punish them if they speak wrongly, they would just give up and hate the language even more. Mistakes are bound to be made, but that is part of learning.

Thirdly, as I said, setting good example. Many a time, you will find notices that go like this in the government departments :
'Di larang masuk tanpa urusan' instead of 'Dilarang masuk tanpa urusan'
'Tolong senyap' instead of 'Sila (Diminta) Senyap'
'.......ditingkat atas' instead of '...........di tingkat atas'
'...........di atas perkara tersebut instead of '............atas perkara tersebut'

etc etc....

If simple grammar like this does not catch the DBP's attention so far, I think now it is time to act and act fast. It is nonsense if we are trying to fine the public when the authorities themselves are not doing it right, right from the start.

And so, side-lined? I would not to comment on this. I know what Bahasa meant to me. It is a national language, I have to learn it. I learn English too because it is an international language. I learn to read and write Chinese and Japanese too. I speak Hainanese, Hokkien, Cantonese etc. That does not mean that I side-lined my national language. Never.

Language is a platform for us to come together to understand each other better. It is a platform and should not be confined to a national and a national alone. If so, we are restricting the language to grow and evolve.

Hazy Day & the Compulsive Me

Noticed the stale air lately. I wondered if it is because of me getting heavier and clumsier or is it really due to the haze. I am constantly feeling thirsty especially in the day time. When I stood at the balcony this morning, I can hardly see the silhoutte of the KL Tower. The blanket of haze is covering KL making me feel like an ant which had fallen into a barbeque pit. For those positive thinkers, they might say: hey, we have got sun shine all year round, good to have KL looking like London sometimes though. Yeah, right.

Today is not good for swimming for sure. I go on alternate day anyway. I admit of having a tinch of obsessive compulsion when I recovered from my morning sickness. House has to be cleaned. I can't stand seeing fallen leaves ; I can't stand to see fallen hair strand; kitchen counter is now wiped 3 to 4 times a day; though heavy and clumsy, I kneeled down to clean the toilet, brushing and scrubing the corners! Oh my god! Just the other day back at my dad's place, I was cleaning up my mug at the basin and ended up scrubbing the counter and wall tiles! And today, while placing back the dishes in the shelve, I ended up removing ALL the plates and started cleaning the shelves and rearranging the dishes and containers instead. Phew!

Now, maybe this is what they termed as 'the instint of mother to be'. Yeah right, maybe.