Friday, January 7, 2011

Kakak's milestone

Today is a milestone... Kakak has completed 1 week of Standard 1, yeay!

Highlights of the week:-
* She was fantastic on the 1st day... woke up immediately when roused in the morning, and was excited about going to 'big school'...
* She made friends with her next-seat neighbor... didn't exactly ask her name, though... she learnt her friend's name by looking at her nametag hehehe...
* She only cried once the entire week... that was on the 2nd day after recess, when she thought she'd lost us...
* She still has energy in the evening after 'big school' and KAFA to play with her brothers at home...
* She ate breakfast every day, and ate her 'bekal' too...
* I got to take part in this momentous occasion in her life... have managed to send her to class every day this week, look in on her during recess, and check in before she takes the school van... the 'stalkerish' behavior lessened with each passing day though hehehe... we wanted to see how she handled herself without us holding her hand...

My wish for her as we go into the next week without us around in school:-
... that she get to make friends with more people in her class and be less shy
... that she go for recess with her friends (either from kindy or in her class) with confidence
... that she and her friends remember to wait for each other at the end of the day to walk together to the busstop & wait for the school van
... that she enjoy being in school, despite the overwhelmingly different environment from her small, personalized kindy
... last but not least, that she gain the confidence to be in school and do her best, the way we know she can!

We love you girl!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

False Alarm!

5 Nov 2010

5.09am - woke up with numbing pain in my lower back, radiating to the bottom of my tummy and down to my right thigh (dunno why only one side...). Tried to sleep it off, but the pain kept coming back every 10-20 mins...

5.30am thereabouts - couldn't stand it anymore... the next time pain hit, got up from the bed and walked around... siap tendang-tendang angin lagi hoping that minor stretching tu kan relieve the pain in the thigh... didn't work *sigh*

6.30am onwards - woke Hubby up for Subuh, told him we should check it out at the hospital... the pain wasn't decreasing, and the frequency's been quite stable... took a quick shower, piled up our stuff in the car, told my parents where we off to (the kids were still asleep) and left for the hospital after 7am. Made a quick stop at Mahbob first for breakfast (I was hungry!!! And I bet it would be past breakfast time at the hospital anyway heheh...)

8.35am - already went through ER, and was sent to the labor ward... got hooked up to the monitors and waited for Doc to arrive... at this point, apparently I was already 1-2cm open, my contractions were very regular (5-6mins apart) but not strong enough for delivery yet... Doc said to wait it out since I was pretty much in labor then... going by previous experiences, told Hubby he could go home and see the kids first since it'll most likely be a while still... He came back later in the day with such adorable wishes from the two kiddies...

9pm and thereafter - Doc said labor wasn't progressing very fast (2-3cm baru ok!! after 12 hours!!!), so decided to assist with pitocin and see how things go... He's had 5 patients (including me) admitted in the labor ward that day, and 4 (4!!!) of them have safely delivered... stress makcik jadinya hehehe... patutla the whole day I kept hearing baby cries je.... we tried to get some sleep that night, but I was restless all through the night... the pain increased for a while with the pitocin, but eventually it petered out... a few were as strong as the ones that brought us to the hospital, but not much after that...

6 Nov 2010

8.30am - Doc came in for another check (I love this Doc, honestly... he came in at least 3 times the day before, and his last visit was almost around midnight!), no change in the opening (still at 2-3cm) and contractions have subsided, so he decided I could go home first... rumah dekat je, so no problem la :) I'm so glad he didn't propose a c-section (cos I know some docs who would say that straightaway!) or decide to break the waterbag yet... he moved me to the maternity ward first for further observation,

2.30pm - the monitors confirmed my contractions have subsided in strngth and are still manageable, so off I go back home to my beloved kids!! Bubbye labor room & maternity ward... see you next time I get serious contractions again!!

Today

I think I've lost my mucus plug over the past 2 days (never had that happen before, so I'm just guessing based on what I've read), so the signs are getting stronger... so far only Kakak's delivery was without any false alarms, and Adik's had 2, so dunno if this little one will be like his big bro or not... wonder if I'll be able to catch Harry Potter before deliver, or wait till after pantang... I hope it plays at least till the end of Dec or into Jan 2011 if so... sempat lagi nak fikir pasal movie hehehe, but it's Harry Potter ok!!!

Let's see how things go...

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Counting Down the Days...

Am finally on MC... getting my rest before baby decides to pop out. At last week's checkup, Doc said the baby was already engaged, and he seemed surprised by it too cos this being the 3rd baby, it shouldn't be engaged so early... his final piece of advice was to try and make sure I get past this week before delivering... so I'm trying :)

You can say I finally succumbed to all the nagging my colleagues did about taking care of my own health & the baby's... I felt guilty about not being at work, but the truth is it's not going to work that stresses me out... it's the work itself, and the people involved in it, that drives me crazy (and ultimately clenches my tummy muscles... not good!)

So I've been resting at home since last Thursday, doing light errands, hand-quilting and also taking care of Kakak who's been unwell for the past 3 days.... it really is a relief not to think about work. I haven't even been checking my emails regularly. I field occassional phone calls from work too, but the clearest sign that staying away from work was good for me came yesterday, after I was on the phone for almost an hour with my colleague. The mess that's happening resulting from the changes our current superior was making in many things drove me nuts, cos they basically turned everything that we've been doing for the past few months upside down!

A colleague with a similar EDD has just delivered this morning, and she was actually scheduled for a C-section next week due to high-blood pressure. I guess her blood pressure probably shot up unexpectedly and the doc couldn't wait till next week... alhamdulillah both mom & baby are doing well so far... Now I can't wait for my turn to come, but hopefully it will happen only when the baby is strong enough....

Monday, October 18, 2010

False Alarm!!

Had a scare last Thursday...

It was still one of my days off, and Hubby and I had planned to run a couple of errands that day (plus get some dating time hehehe). We went from bank to bank to settle some loan matters, then to the management office to get some paperwork done in anticipation of the house reno works starting soon, and finally the post office to send off a package of altered tudungs to a customer.

After all that, we went to grab a bite to eat at The Curve, since we wanted to drop off the baby carrier seat for reupholstery as well. It was a leisurely lunch, since the lunch crowd were gone and we got our food in record time... After dropping off the baby carrier, we decided to go to Ikea and the Brands Outlet store to get some stuff for the shop as well as the baby (I still think we don't have enough clothes for him just yet!) All in all, I'd say we had an enjoyable, relaxing day walking around, getting some exercise while spending some valuable time together (and still got some important things done!).

Hubby had a futsal game that night, so after we picked up the kids from nursery, we went home and I had a lie-down like I usually do after coming back from work. Somehow this time it didn't feel as relaxing as before though... I felt discomfort all over the tummy, plus my back didn't seem to want to let up... I had a very light dinner cos I didn't feel like I had an appetite, so spent the rest of the night folding laundry in front of the TV and entertaining the kids while Hubby was gone...

I had a nagging feeling that the discomfort I was feeling wasn't normal, so started to time the pains when they came... Horrors of horrors, they were pretty much exactly 5-7 minutes apart from start to start, and they were painful! Not just a simple tightening of the belly that the regular Braxton Hicks would be! I tried to maintain my composure, but at the same time was firing off somewhat-panicky sms-es to a good friend who had delivered prematurely. Eventually it got to a point where the pain was becoming more unbearable, and my mom started noticing. I had to tell Hubby once he got back, but even then we weren't sure what to do... to go to the ER? We went through 2 false alarms with Hariz, and only delivered him at the 3rd ER visit, but even then he was already 36 weeks in... right now I'm only at 35!!! I was still timing the contractions, but since they were regular but the intensity wasn't increasing any more, we decided to wait it out a bit more... they eventually tapered off around 2am, which was about 7 hours since they started, and I finally could get some sleep...

The next morning I called up my gynae and described the situation to him... 'What should I do if it happens again?' In his usual reassuring voice, he basically told me to come in for a quick checkup & monitoring if it happens again before our scheduled appointment (and I assume that means the ER if need be la), and he might have to give me something to suppress the contractions since I haven't reached the 36-week marker yet... it's too soon for him to be comfortable with... He also told me to take it easy, so I spent Friday pretty much in bed and just pottering around the house (that put paid my plans to help out Mama at the shop that day!).

So right now I'm still praying that everything goes well... I'm extra panicking about work cos it means I really have to start my handover very very very soon, just in case... and I also have to pack up my things cos we'll be retrofitting the workstations while I'm on maternity leave (don't want my poor colleagues to have to deal with my trash...) I remember how panicked I was when I had the 1st false alarm with Hariz... that was a scare... and now, every extra-hard contraction has me worried whether the contractions are starting up again... if possible, please let this baby come not too soon... I want him to come out healthy and strong... this time around I just might ask the doc for early MC for extra rest, which I've never done with the other 2 before... I'd be happy to just sit and sew in bed during that whole time (it'll at least give me a chance to finish up my sewing projects hehehe...)

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Tummy oh tummy...

My tummy is no longer my own...

It rolls around in unpredictable ways, at all times of the day...

Sometimes I get sudden punches or pushes from within (and trust me, it hurts!!!), and it takes a whole lot of rubbing on the spot to push the knobby limb in... even with this 3rd one, I can't tell if it's a foot or knee... luckily it's not a kick to the ribs, but still...

Baby's head is already downward, so I'm guessing the frequent fluttering I feel right below the huge tummy are from his hands moving about...

This is one very active kiddo! At last count 2 weeks ago, he's about 1.6kg, which was still ok by the doc...

At this very moment, the kicks have begun... I get the feeling this kiddo gets snatches of sleep during odd ours of the day and night, and at other times just loves to announce his presence (usually when I'm just about to go to sleep or get started with work)... you are gonna be a force to be reckoned with, kid!

Hooray for a break!!!

I'm off for a short break!!!

I've got 6 days of leave left, and am taking 5 of them this week...

So shoot me, I was gonna take 'em on a staggered basis... but since work schedule looked crazy for Oct, there was no way I could take my leave as planned... the head honchos are all away this week, and I really needed a break (physically and mentally), so my old boss said this would be the best time to go off anyway... Obviously, I could sense that my current remote boss was a teensy bit nervous about me going off, but I've told her many times to be prepared for my maternity leave early and to get my disinterested and disconnected colleague to be in?volved in our current project since he's supposed to cover my role after this... I've been worried like crazy about the handover alone, it's high time the others see the criticality of this and pull their weight too hehehe...

On the books for this week? Buy the required baby stuff that I've yet to get, think about baby names, start on baby projects for myself and Nin Ja Moo, and relax!!!!

9 whole days of freedom... whoohooo!!!! Dang it's gonna be hard to get back to work after this...

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Taking it easy the 3rd time around?

I feel like we've been taking the preparations for this 3rd little one a little easy...

There are less things to buy, since major items like stroller, baby carrier/car seat, breast pump etc we already have... we just need a new cover for the car seat, dig out the breast pump from the store... errr.... what else? Bought new nursing bras (which I can easily add to since hubby knows where I got them), initial stock of plastic EBM storage bags, breast pads, some baby clothes, and not much else!!!! We're not likely to buy a new cot, since the last we bought ended up being used more as a playpen rather than a baby's sleeping area! I haven't even been spending on little things like baby blankets and hankies and such...

We haven't even thought of names yet!! I've been so busy, so stressed out, and the preggie symptoms have been worse than before that sadly I haven't been enjoying the pregnancy as much as before (hmmm, how much did I enjoy the previous pregnancies anyway? hehehe)... even the Braxton Hicks contractions have started much earlier than before, and are more real than practice!! The doc had to give me meds to reduce the intensity of the contractions, since it's still way too early (at this point we're just into the 33rd week).

This week's gonna be a crazy one, but I'm planning to take the whole of next week off since I have 6 more days to use.... then perhaps I'll take the last day of leave at the end of the month, and just bide my time in November... I plan to use these days to catch up on all the other preparations we need to make, and hopefully get to make 2 simple baby quilts (one for me, one for my best bud) before it's time... Too ambitious ke agaknya? :) Ah, what the heck... I need the break!!