It's the final week...

... before I go back to work.

I have enjoyed this short break. It was rather short, compared to what I used to get. But, in these tough times, I should not complain.

Talking about tough times, it is a wee it depressing reading/listening to the news these days. Everything is about yet another financial institution collapsing, how bad the situation will be, how we must all tighten our belts and on and on and on...

Sigh.

I suppose, in the next one to two years when I won't be drawing a salary, I should really, really cut down on my expenses - the biggest of which goes to transportation (which sounds really legitimate when I put it that way but not so when I spell it out as t-a-x-i).

Other than that, I don't think I am inclined towards big expenses. I have somewhat lost interest in bags (momentarily, perhaps?) and I am not really inclined towards the high life (other than good food but halal good food is, thankfully, not as easily accessible here as it is in KL so that doesn't really count). In other words, we should be pretty sheltered against this recession? God knows. Still, it's wise to cut down on unnecessary expenditure.

What a dreary topic that was.

Now, moving on to more exciting stuff. The Baby has a name! Heh heh heh. Must seek clearance from the higher authority (ie, The Husband) to announce the name to all. But, it will be revealed soon, if I have not already told you la.

And more about Huda's school - She's adjusting extremely well to school. Even the principal commented that the 2006 babies are adjusting well to school. Occasionally, she will protest about going to school in the morning but once in school, she'll be okay. She is eating well in school. She even takes her naps without complaining. This, after I regaled her teacher with all sorts of horrifying things that Huda would do to avoid naps. When I picked her up on the first day she stayed in school past naptime, the teacher told me that when Huda finished drinking her milk, she rolled over and fell asleep. No fuss. Saboteur or what?

And today, after her evening bath, I decided to give toilet-training another shot. And, oh my oh my.. She peed in the toilet three times!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! (Yes. Wee, indeed.) No accidents! (I was also inspired to do it thanks to that nasty nappy rash she had on our return from a trip up north.) The only problem is, she insists on pee-ing standing up. No squatting or sitting positions for my little miss.

That trip up north (where else but to KL) - I think there must have been about a million Singaporeans there last weekend. We kept on bumping into familiar faces. There were familiar faces that we planned to bump into but there were also a good number of familiar faces that we have not seen for years in Singapore.

We went to this swanky new shopping centre and they had clowns and other costumed characters. Huda was extremely scared of the clown. There is a word for people with a clown phobia but I'm just too darn lazy to click the next tab and do a search so I'll just call it clownophobia. Long ago, The Husband and I have decided not to invoke the bogeyman when it comes to disciplining our children. We have been successful - until three days ago. Our little clownophobic was behaving in the most unbecoming way and her uncle invoked The Clown. Immediately, she behaved and the time spent at the restaurant was most civil and pleasant, all thanks to The Clown. Will we use The Clown again? In most desperate of situations, if ever. But, we will use it very, very, very sparingly, I hope. 

I suddenly have lots to write about but gotta stop now cos I need to pee (the 745th time today).

(Psssst.. The date is wrong, okay? I wrote this last night, 16 December, but I wrote it over a draft I had written earlier. That's why the date for this entry does not quite correspond with the sequence of events. I know people will most probably not notice this but I am ngeow like that.)

Schoolgirl

My precious little one is now all grown up. Sob sob.

She started school on Monday.

She has been very excited about going to school as two of her cousins are there too and whenever her aunt comes over on weekdays and brings along only the wee ones, she realises that the missing older ones are at this place called school.

So, Monday morning came and she was jumping up and down chanting, 'Yay! Yay! Nak pergi sekolah!' (Yay! Yay! Going to school!)

She didn't cry one bit on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, when I told her that I was going off, little tears started rolling down her cheeks. But, the moment anyone looked at her, she would quickly wipe them away. Once she started her breakfast and was occupied, I left. Sigh.

Her teachers say that she's adjusting well. She had three portions of rice on Tuesday and today, after one portion of noodles for dinner, she said, "I want some more." This had to be the influence in school! She's eating more and asking for seconds! Wow! She's also brushing her teeth on her own and does not have to be forced into it. Wow wow! As I have been picking her up before her naptime, I do not know how she will react when forced to take a nap. That, I'll find out tomorrow as I will only pick her up after her naptime tomorrow.

My only grouse is she may pick up bad language habits from her friends. (Not that she's speaking all that well in the first place.. Hahaa!) But, what to do.. I can't keep her isolated forever, right? We just have to model the correct use of Malay and English to her.

She seems happy enough there and I am 94% happy that we made the decision to put her in school.

A Face of My Life?

Help! Help! Help!

I am seriously addicted to the word games in faceb0ok. (I have very nerd-like interests. My name is so apt for me. My parents named me nerdirah, after all...) Previously, I would badger my sister to log into her account so that I could play scramble using her account. But, thanks to one terribly boring afternoon spent too long waiting for someone to be free, I decided to start my own account so that I could play the game on my own. And, oh dear, oh dear... I discovered more word games which I used to play on yahoogames.

What else do I think of facebo0k? I think it's frightening that sooooooooo many people are on it. What is the appeal of facebo0k, I wonder? Why isn't friendster as popular as facebo0k? Don't they serve the same purpose? 

In any case, I'm going to use this holiday to indulge in my addiction and hopefully, get sick of it before work starts again.

And, now, I got to go back to nursing my addiction. Tataa!

Woes of a Commuter

I am trying to cut down my expenses on taxi (which could reach up to the high hundreds in some months) and take other modes of public transport instead. But, my mood turns ugly each time I have to take the train during peak hours.

Do the people heading SMRT take the MRT regularly? Are they even vaguely aware of how long 6 minutes is during rush hour? What possessed them to think that it is even remotely acceptable to remove seats from trains and have standing-space-only carriages? Don't they realise that commuters prefer seats? If commuters do not prefer seats, explain why people are not standing when seats are available? Don't even get me started on the useless 45-degree bum rest they removed after complaints from the public. Gaah! Hate them!

I am so tempted to get a car - only thing is, I have neither the license nor the moolah. $2 COEs don't happen every month. I hate hate hate being held ransom by these providers of public transport!!!

Week 26 and Other Matters

I *think* I'm entering Week 26. (checks pregnancy calculator) Yup. Week 26, it is.

The pregnancy is going on smoothly. Baby is growing well. The last check-up shows that the placenta is still low. But, that's a small matter. I just have to ensure that I take all the precautions to avoid early labour. And, if it's still low at the end of the pregnancy, C-section it will be. But, it's okay. I'm not so bothered as to how the baby comes out. As long as she comes out safely.

My stomach is much bigger now than when I was about to deliver Huda. So, this explains why I can't eat much in one sitting. (I'm quite sure I talked about this before so I shall stop here about this one.)

This pregnancy has made my tastebuds extremely sensitive. Many types of food leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth. Mamee snacks, certain types of chocolates and biscuits, instant noodles, 3-n-1 tea mix etc etc.. Basically (I really hate using that word - basically), everything that is made using additives and preservatives and strange 'food' substances like glycerides and polyunsaturated vegetable oils etc etc. I suppose, this daughter of mine will have a preference for organic food when she starts eating.

Just like it was for Huda, The Husband and I still can't see eye-to-eye about the name for the second baby. I want Fxxxx and The Husband wants Nxxxxx. As usual, I told him that I would run to the baby-name-registering-office once the baby pops and with my placenta still dangling out but he reminded me that he gave in to me the last time. Heh. We'll see. Maybe, it will all come down to a game of scissors-paper-stone.

On to non-pregnancy related stuff... (I am extra chatty tonight because I'm supposed to do my w0r;k re\/i3w but as usual, I just can't bring myself to do it. I really hate doing those things. It's not that difficult but the mere thought of it puts me off.)

The Husband and I are in a sort-of dilemma. We are presently looking for a new place because we realise that while our place was cosy enough for the two of us, there's just not enough running space for the little ones. The problem is, we are looking for a place in only a few blocks and it should preferably be on the higher floors and it must be certain units. Given these specific requirements, our choices are very, very limited.

So, the dilemma is, should we do up the girls' room or not? Presently, Huda is still very contented to sleep on the mattress beside our bed. We do/did(?) have plans to kick her out move her to her own room soon. Because of the hunt for the new place, we are unsure if we should put in so much time and effort in doing up the girls' room only to use it for a few months (should our dream flat appears). But, there is also a possibility that we won't find the dream flat all that soon so, we need to move Huda and the little sister to their own room. What to do? What to do? Maybe we should also solve this problem with a game of scissors-paper-stone.

There is at least one more thing I wanted to talk about but, as usual, I can't recall what it is.

Now, on to that \/\/0rk r3v|ew... *big sigh*

 

An Evening with ---

There were no pyrotechnics, no fireworks, no fancy dance moves, no dancers, no confetti, no elaborate stage set-up.

But those were not necessary.

Because there was Anuar Zain.

It was almost surreal to see Anuar Zain live in person. I only managed to shake off that am-I-really-here feeling by the third song.

I was blown away by his perfect vocals. And The Husband (yes, he was beside me all along to make sure that I remember that I'm a married woman - heh) was just as enthralled by his voice. This despite telling me repeatedly before the concert began that he was going to fall asleep. He reached all the high notes effortlessly and he was pitch-perfect all the time. He sang with emotion and you can feel the pain when he sang Kembalilah Kasih, which he wrote to mourn the loss of a lady for whom he waited five years. *gulp* Five years. Imagine that. And all you get at the end of five years is news that this woman is marrying someone else. With a man like that, how can the ladies in the crowd not swoon?

He sounded so much better than on his CD (and he already sounds great on CD). I wished that I had an audio-recording device (heh heh - the ushers at Esplanade would have a fit) so that I could listen to his powerful vocals again and again and again...

Now, I can only hope that there will soon be a DVD of his concert released.

-

Acknowledgements: 1. Jiji & family for babysitting Huda;   2. The Husband - for the tickets, for the company and for enjoying himself and not falling asleep. :D

Duck

I don't want to waddle but I've got cramps on my bottoms and waddling seems to be the best way to walk.

Gaaah!

Week 23

TDF

That stands for too free. D stands for? This may be read by my children when they grow up so let's sanitise things a bit.

Yes,  yes. I'm too free today. That explains two blog entries within an hour.

I *think* I'm in Week 23.

This is just a little update about my pregnancy so far. The vomiting has stopped. Yayyy! But, this baby seems to be squeezing my stomach and so I can only eat a tiny amount each time because I feel extremely bloated after each meal.

Occasionally, I feel cramps especially in the lower abdomen area. I don't know if that's because of the low placenta but I have faith that the placenta will not be too low as the weeks go by. That's what the gynae says. I am trying to avoid carrying heavy things. By January, I should be able to avoid climbing stairs also because the lift in my block should be ready by then. So, when I'm heavily pregnant in January, I should be having an easier time.

The baby is moving about the tummy quite a bit these days. I can feel movements on the left and right and mostly nearer to the bottom, below my C-section scar. It's nice to know that the little one is having a whale of a time in there.

My stomach now is so much bigger than when I was 34 weeks pregnant with Huda. (That's not saying much because I barely had a tummy then. Haha!) So, I'm actually filling out some of my maternity clothes nicely.

Talking about maternity clothes - I really dont understand myself. I only need to wear maternity clothes for about 6 months at best but I have a lot more maternity clothes than I have nursing tops. I intend to nurse my child for about 2 years so it makes sense to have more nursing tops, doesn't it?

And, I gotta make a decision between CordLife and StemCord. Dunno which one to go for. I couldn't bank in Huda's cord blood because she was a preemie with IUGR. Hopefully, this one will be okay so there will be some cord blood to be stored as insurance.

Going to School

1 December 2008 will mark a major milestone in Huda's life.

She's going to school, at the ripe old age of 2 years 9 months.

Initially, my main motivation of sending her to school was to allow her to mix around with people her age. Then, my father fell ill and the need to send her to a school was even greater. Now that things have stabilised on the home front, she will be going to school mainly to socialise.

She will be attending a nearby childcare centre, a centre that my nieces and nephew also go to. Choosing the cc wasn't a difficult task. It meets almost all the criteria I have, not that I had many to begin with. It was not airconditioned and the same teachers have been there for many years. I would not want to send Huda to a cc where the teachers change every few months. It also helps that three of her cousins are in the same cc so she'll see familiar faces all the time.

I don't know who will be affected worse when she goes to school. Huda or her mother. I have a feeling that she will adapt to the new school easily (the school is not unfamiliar to her; we go there sometimes to pick up her cousins) but I will most probably miss her terribly. Sigh.

I think I have to start planning my December schedule so that I will be kept busy when she's at school. Cooking and baking, perhaps? *nervous laughter*

Week 20

What is it? What is it? It's a GIRL!

I'm now hoping for a healthy baby girl who's not a fussy eater. :)

The scan shows that our little girl is growing normally and is healthy. She was playing peek-a-boo with us during the scan and Huda enjoyed getting a sneak peak of her baby sister.

We asked Huda to suggest a few names for her sister, otherwise known as Baby Adik. These are her suggestions:

1. Lion

2. Rhino

3. Her grandfather’s name

 

---

Other W20-related stuff:

1. I'm feeling breathless a lot more frequently these days. Even after not-so-strenuous activities like scrubbing the toilet floor. (Seriously, not much effort is needed for that because out of all the house chores, scrubbing the toilet floor is the one thing that I do very, very regularly.)

2. The colostrum has started leaking. If this means that breastfeeding will be as easy this time round, then leak away! (Of course, nothing on the internet says that this is true. It's only a myth but it's a good myth.)

3. My placenta is low. According to the gynae, for 90% of pregnant women with low placenta, the placenta will move up as the baby grows bigger. But for the other 10%, the placenta will remain low til the end of the pregnancy so the baby has to exit via a C-section. The gynae told me to take some precautions; one of which is not to carry anything more than 10kg (that will be Huda). I've already done that since the beginning of this pregnancy. The problem of having a low-lying placenta is really nowhere near as bad as having intrauterine growth restriction, which was Huda's problem. As long as our little girl is healthy, I am happy.

4. Braxton-Hicks contractions have begun also, much to my annoyance. Is there a reason for these fake contractions? It hurts and it serves no purpose. Or does it?

5. I'm beginning to be able to take plain water more often these days. I better. The urine test shows that the glucose level in the urine is a +2. I don't exactly understand what that means but I know that it shows that there's some possibility of gestational diabetes. No!!! I'm already not eating all that much and I simply can't afford to watch my diet. The gynae told me to continue eating normally and see what the next test shows. If it's still positive, then she'll order a glucose test.

All righty. That's about it. I'm now entering Week 21. But I foresee that I'll be much too l/a/z/y to do updates. ;)