So the 'glutton monster' has gone back to its cave. Now that I am in my 2nd trimester, my morning sickness has almost (but not fully) recovered. I do not have to eat ramen everyday for breakfast anymore and I am starting to eat whole wheat toast with melted cheese for breakfast and nasi with kicap and sambal tumis with anchovies and fried peanuts….yummy! The more basic the better! Good thing, I am still not craving for anything sweet like cookies or ice cream (the taste of sweet makes me yak!). But I do love them fruits…the more sour the bettah!

Let's see whats in my 'care package' ('tah pao' Harrod's bag) today :
2 tiny red apples
1 low fat yogurt
1 slice of Texas cookie (just in case)
Oh and don’t forget Tums for that gasey feeling!

My energy is starting to come back too. I am a happier person now (with occasional hormone bursts at times…shuddup husband!) and have more energy to last till 10 pm.

I can already feel the baby moving (as per my 2 previous entries). The baby loves food! So 30 minutes after every meal, it starts to do acrobats. It also wakes up when I wake up! Such a wonderful feeling.

Today will be the Dr's appointment. We will hear the heartbeat and if we're lucky, another ultrasound! The kids are anxious to know the sex of the baby which is still too early, but we'll never know!

I told the co workers that I am starting to take wagers for the sex of the baby hehehehe.

In the meantime…
The City Hall of San Francisco (which has our cute mayor working there) has been closed since 7:30am today due to 3 suspicious packages (a bomb threat). Our office is only 1.5 blocks away from City Hall. Our Disaster Response Team (I am one of the member) says that this will not effect our daily operation…dang…wish we could all evacuate and go picnic in the sun! Anyway, I am sure the scare is just a scare…especially since 9/11, anything is a scare!

Have a great week ahead people!

To my dearest friend...

My friend whom I have known for over a year but seems like forever,
You have always been here for me,
Never running out of ideas and ways to make me happy,
I think we have been destined to be friends...

I wanted you to know that you have been such a good friend to me,
A friend whom I will keep for the rest of my life,
I love every bit of you,
Every sound of you...your voice is like the ripples of the ocean, peaceful and melodious...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAREST KARMAALMITRA aka Nazrah
My greatest friend on earth...

I LOVE YOU!!!

**thank you to KT for 'matchmaking' us. you know that we love you KT!!!**

GO GIANTS!!!

This weekend is the long Memorial Weekend. Mat was invited to be honored as a Junior Giant at the San Francisco Giants' Game today. He and other Junior Giants were given the chance to be on the field and meet up with a player in person. Being that, of course, the family was invited.

It was a very hot and beautiful day. Barry Bonds hit his home run #715, over-writing Babe Ruth who hit 714 home runs. It was a very weird conincident...we were at the game when Bonds hit #700 last year and here we were again at #715. Read article here.

Here are the pictures of the game....and me, a day short of 13 weeks.

Click on the pic to see Mat (he's the short one in front of player#17)

Lalalalala....

I wanted to say thank you for your kind comments in my previous entry.

I think this week has not been going pretty well. Besides having the 'evening' sickness visit me after 4 weeks of not visiting, past 2 days had not been that smooth sailing for me.

Support : that’s one emotional element that I had been giving support…to my 2 co workers.

For the closer co worker whos on bed rest and had lost one of her set of twins, I have been calling her every morning to make sure that shes ok. She seems to be getting better and better each day. Being on bed rest is not a fun thing to do. All she could do is watch tv, read a magazine and whenever she gets up to make breakfast or anything else, she would feel guilty and jumps back in bed. This is for the sake of the other baby that’s still in her. All I said to her is to relax. And when she comes back to work on Tuesday, she needs to be ready and hopefully her sadness would somewhat be kept far behind her head as she has another baby in her to grow and be happy. If she were to be sad and mope overt her loss, then she will distress herself and the baby might be at risk.

As for the other one…the first time mom. She called me at work from the off site class yesterday. Hmmm…she is not believing what the Dr said. She had an ultrasound on Monday…the baby grew a lil but there was no heartbeat. My co worker says that she is not believing it yet till she sees the blood test result and see another gynaecologist. Although the Dr says that it will be a waste of time, I suppose that my co worker has the right to do it. But I told her one thing,'Remember, things might not go your way after all this. It is not the end of the world. You're still young and you can try again. It is just not meant to be and you know that we all here will be here to support you'. Now…would that make a person bawl? She did. It is hard sometimes being a friend. We share the happiness and sadness in life, but the fact of life still needs to be advise upon should things don’t go their way. A friend can't just keep consoling but a friend also need to give a factual theory of life yes?

This is me. My friends can find me anytime they want…a friend who is ready to give advise and support…provided that they do the same when I need them.

On a lighter note : The evening sickness kinda came and went. I cannot wear my pre pregnancy pants…can't button, can't hook, can't zip the pants! So I am wearing my maternity clothes and other bigger tops that could sustain the growth of the munchkin. Oh and I have been getting maternity 'hand me downs' from a co worker's wife….phew! At least I wouldn’t have to spend anymore money on clothes that I am going to wear for 6 more months! This morning, the munchkin is fighting for space in the tummy. The slight cramps on the side of the tummy had thrown me off guard sometimes. But I know theres going to be more to come.

The 'unexpected' day...

Monday had not been a good day. Remember I mentioned in the previous entry about my office having 3 of us being pregnant? Well Monday was like a day of 'takdir'(fate).

Firstly, my new co worker, the first time mom and being 10 weeks pregnant lost her baby. She was in an offsite class but had made the 2nd appointment to see the gynae as the gynae suspected that there was something 'not good' when she saw the ultrasound and blood tests on Saturday. 2 hours later, she called the office, bawling beyond control, saying that she had lost the baby.

Then my closer co worker, she was expecting twins...lost one of the babies on the same day. She is currently 13 weeks pregnant.

The one who was a first time mom is back on offsite class and will see the Dr again on Friday. I won't see her till 5 weeks later as the class is a long one. She is still upset...but I choose not to call her till Thursday, to give her space to compose herself.

As for my closer co worker, she is on bedrest. She sounded upset this morning. But all I could do was to give her strong encouragement and support, which she really needs now. I shall call her again tomorrow and every morning to see if she is OK. We promised each other that we shall go through this together (we planned/coordinated our pregnancies, again, takdir for us to get pregnant at the same time).

Yes, of course I am worried for myself and the baby. I am in my 12th week of pregnancy and theoretically, the risk of miscarriage had been reduced by a significant percentage. But the point is that, Allah is great. Things can happen and cannot happen according to his wants. Anything can change in a minute or two.

Redha...thats all I can say.

To my 2 co workers...my prayers are with you and your angels in heaven.

Possessed...

Hmmm…where should I start? OK OK...I turned into a possessed pregnant wife over the weekend. I was overly 'possessed' that I get overly mad with the husband and get overly teary eyed. No Bollywood movie could match this drama. No Bollywood or Jalan Ampas movie star could match my drama mama (the actresses do not have raging hormones to be drama mama like me!).

I felt that I had a bomoh siam (the husband was the bomoh) to take the demon out of my body. But I was rewarded with Banana and Coconut Blended Crème from Starbucks at the end of the day.

But please do not be worried, I am ok now. Very tired, still teary eyed at times for no rhyme or reason. Its beautiful outside which is a big help to my emotions.

Sigh…I wonder what will possess me next…maybe a food machine!

Its the WEEKEND!!!

The husband will not be home tonight. He has gone to Las Vegas for a business convention. We were thinking that I could come along for the weekend and watch Barry Manilow (yes BARRYYYYYYYYYYYY!) singing at the very hotel that he's staying. But it will deem unfeasible if I were to go cos 1) the kids will have to spend their night at their respective friends houses 2) Matt would have to come home 2x a day to feed the kitties 3) a gf would have to come by the house 2x a day to give Tuco the diabetic cat, insulin. So…forget it, ibu stays home to keep the house together.

The kids are already asking what we're doing for dinner tonight. Knowing them, when Paps is not around, they always want to drag me to the mall no matter how tired or what time it would be. I told them,'Let's just order pizza and sit in front of the tv and watch a movie!'. Both of them went 'Urrrrgghhhhh!!!!'. But we will have an early day tomorrow, sending Matt to the dugout for his baseball practice at 8:30am and then the game at 9:30…that would still be ibu's sleeping time on weekends!

The mall….forget the mall….ok trying to forget the mall. After paying the American Express more than $3.2k on airline tickets and miscellenious today, I need to avoid the mall. But how to forget the mall then I need more maternity clothes?

But my Saturday would not be over until I pick the husband from the airport late tomorrow. I wonder what I would be cooking for him…or maybe not.

HAPPY WEEKEND YA ALL!!!

The pump, the bump and the 'hummpph'...

'Hey, would you like to buy a breast pump machine from me? Its top of the line brand and my wife used it only a few times', a male co worker asked.

'Oh yea? You might want to bring the pump with you here and give me a demo!'…of course that was me talking.

That was my co worker who was trying to sell me his baby stuff. Yes the pump is indeed a top of the line brand. He bought it for $350. So we came up with a price…$150. Good deal to me! Then I messaged the husband about having 'bought' a breast pump for $150 and he asked,'Does this one make milk shake too?'.

Last year was also a baby booming year in my office. But they were all husbands expecting their babies….all boys! So this year, 3 ladies are pregnant in my office. One is a first time mom, one a second time mom who still has her preggy clothes and baby stuff and the other one (that’s me!) a third time long lost mother who owns only 5 pieces of maternity clothes when this entry was written!

Since I am closer to the crowd in this office (how to not get close when I nag them everyday?) I seem to be getting more offers from these people trying to sell me stuff. Knowing them having good high taste, I trust the products they buy. I am also getting food and 'gagging' offers (they start to gag when they see me looking sick just to tease me). I hope that one of the offer would be a Baby Hummer or a Toyota Mini Van hahahaha.

I almost went on a cruise to Vancouver that 6 of the ladies in the office went last week. But I backed out a minute before they booked the cruise as I knew that I would be more of a trouble than fun for them. Gotta take care of Ely…what if she gets sick? But one of the ladies said,'That’s ok that you're not coming with us, you'll be sleeping the cruise away if you came with us! Frances (the other preggy co worker who is always tired too) is already with us, don’t want double trouble!'. Great!

Did I fail to mention that I am still in 'denial' of trying to squeeze into my normal work clothes eventhough I am bursting out of my pants, the knitted blouses riding up my tummy and the teeny sweater just wouldn’t button up around the waist? Besides waking up one morning feeling as though someone put huge stones in my tummy (like the wofe story remember?) and feeling tired, this clothes issue is something that I really dread.

I have collected 5 tops and one (yes one!) maternity pants so far. The pictures in the previous blog, was the first one that I bought and no I haven't worn it to work yet. I was thinking of waiting till next weel when I hit the 12th week to start wearing maternity clothes. So I guess Ely has to hussle and go shopping again…which I really really dread!

As the uterus gets bigger, the cramps come and go intermittently. Same goes with my energy and mood. One minute I am hyper and another, I feel drained. One minute I am happy and another, I get moody. The husband sometimes just could not grasp the concept of being pregnant. He always thinks that I am mad at him for some reason and would throw tantrums before I could tell him that I do not feel well. He told me yesterday,'Next time when you're not feeling well, please let me know'…Hello???? Maybe I should have a mood or pain sensor on my head yeah? I cannot explain it myself when this will happen. But what can I say. I cant help others if I can't even figure myself out?

I guess I also forget to tell you that the gynae says that this baby will definitely be born at more than 8lbs cos according to my babies' birth weights, my 1st one was born at 6.2lbs, the 2nd at 7.9lbs and this one, at least another pound more. Yeaaahhhh....it surely wasn't funny when she told me that eh? And I am still NOT laughing!

Tickets to Singapore have been bought. The kids are flying in a month and me, in 6 weeks. The husband is already weeping, that he will miss us a bunch, which means that he will buy his ticket soon to join us (we only bought 3 tickets cos he thought he wasn’t going, yeah right!).

I am making a list on food…what to eat while I am there!

It's still Mother's Day here in the US....fragments of it left. Those who have not brought their moms out, this is the only chance to take them out to dinner.

When the kids asked me what I would love for Mother's Day, I said 'Peace and Quiet'...of course, that was just a wish waiting to come true. It was a beautiful morning and we went straight to Chinatown for the boys to get their haircuts and for me to find my Fish Head to make Fish Head Curry and maybe look look for 'telur ikan'. Yes to Fish Head but no to telur ikan (hard to find). Oh well.






Then we went to Fort Point to enjoy the beautiful sun and weather. Did some walking and climbing of stairs till we got hungry and then straight to Chutney for my favorite indian lunch. Hmmm...sedap!

To the mall we went as I needed to buy some maternity clothes. The kids did their shopping, Paps and the kids gave me a very nice Piglet stuffed toy, Mrs Fields cookies that says 'Happy Mother's Day' and a box of See's Hard Candies. Hehehehe...makes me happy!

But life's back as usual when we got home, cat napped, more laundry and made some jemput2 pisang.

Its 7:02pm now, hot hot hot...lil bit of laundry left, the kids just got nagged at for vegetating in front of the tv doing nothing, so now they're scrambling to clean their respective rooms.

One more hour before I say hello to the bed again and goodbye to the wonderful weekend.

And I hope that its still not too late for me to say HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all mothers out there....we're ALL SPECIAL!!!

Ely is feeling very tired yesterday, today and maybe in days to come.

Please be patient with me. I do not have the energy to update the blog regularly for now.

The son's baseball practices and games have been overly taxing for me and the little munchkin in my belly.

I'll try to update as soon as I gain my energy back.

The Second Appt...

Can you see the skeletal 'face' at the top?

May 3rd was my 2nd gynae appointment, 1st time for the husband.

The baby has apparently grown...by 1.2cm. It was amazing when we saw the real tiny one sitting comfortably at the corner of my uterus, moving every now and then, with the heart beating so fast! As the heart was beating, seemed like the heart jumped out of its body, making it a 3D heartbeat. So the husband and I went 'woooooowwwwww....'. The size of my uterus is now of a small cantaloupe or a huge grapefruit.

So far so good...gynae says that I am doing ay-okay. She says that I am sick for a reason, my weight gain is for a reason too (yes, I gained another 5 lbs! Eeeeek) and she will see me in 4 weeks.

Heh...the tummy with the 'grapefruit'...yes...I feel bloated!

Oh please don't mind the water mark on the t shirt, just had dinner :)

The Birthday Wish...

The day has come again
38 years ago when you were born
Cute little baby you were
Still as cute today :)

Happy Birthday my dearest Husband and Paps
May Allah bless you with more good, healthy and wealthy years to come!

Your family loves you!

Don't this, don't that...

I am counting on the weeks that I will be into the 2nd trimester. Counting…counting…counting…its like counting sheep…makes me fall asleep (I fall asleep all the time anyway!).

As we all know, when you start getting pregnant, the superstitions start coming out. My chinese friends seem to observe what I am eating. They said no pineapples, not too much bananas, no watermelon, no this, no that. Then the non chinese, would say, no soda, no chips its bad for you, no this no that. But but but, Ely had some pineapples during the potluck last Friday, and Ely had some bananas too…though not often. Then the husband bought a huge a*s watermelon. The soda makes me burp, gets rid of the morning sickness and queasy tummy and the chips also helps take away the dizziness. (pssst...did Ely ever mentioned that she gets bouts of French fries cravings at 3pm every day? That shall be left unsaid!!!).

And I surely can remember back home, when my aunts and mom would advise the preggies to carry at least 2 inches of nail or a pair of pockets scissors (to ward off pontianak) and not wear wangi wangian when you're having a baby. Do not come home later than 7pm cos the spirits will follow you home (after the nail and scissors, even the robbers wouldn’t follow the preggies home!). Well…I did NOT say that I did not carry them sharp thingies when I was preggy last time, I had a pair of pocket scissors in my purse just to make my mom happy, but truly, I am glad that 'nothing' followed me home either. Maybe this time I should carry a nail file to replace the iPod nano that’s in my purse? And I am lucky that its spring, the sun doesn’t go to sleep till 8pm…so Ely has time to check out the mall after work and still be back in broad daylight!

I am getting advise from the gynae that I could have as many cats and sleep with as many cats that I want but not to change the cat litter at any time during pregnancy. If I wouldn’t have to give up the kitties, I am ay okay! But the parents says that the cat dander will effect the baby. Relaks mak and bapak, Ely will be ok! OK????

But I truly believe in the '30 day confinement' period. Taking jamu, bengkung (no bengkung, girdle also can), pilis and parem (I have adverse reaction to parem, gives me the headache instead of getting rid of it). No cold drinks for 30 days, no going out etc etc. That I do believe. But as we know, this is America, where the moms take their babies out as soon as they get out of the hospital and attack McDonalds for their first meal together. Some would even wear shorts and slippers in the cold…aiyooooo. But there is no tukang urut here. Called the indonesian consulate (have a friend there) asking them if they have tukang pijit…nope! Oh well…I will have to make do without makcik urut!

And readers, please do not be fooled by my picture and think that I still look good. Thats all makeup and cover up work hehehe. I put more eye makeup highlighter in the morning to make my eyes look fresh, more eyeshadow for that eyeliner and more rouge to not make myself look pale. Thats to take the attention AWAY from my mushy tush and bloated belly!

Can anyone remember any bizarre superstitions for preggies?