Telur ikan & hati ibu...

Aaaaahhhhhh, finally satisfied my craving for telur ikan!!!! It was so hard when you're craving. Went to chinatown, no trace of telur ikan. Good thing, a cousin was coming here with his family for vacation again and he brought me 6 large pieces of telur ikan, siap dah masak suma!

So as soon as he touched down and checked into the hotel, the husband and I went to meet her at the hotel. Aiyooooooooooo, so happy to see the cousin and his family. We could talk forever I tell ya! Cos this cousin of mine is one of the closest to my family.

After the hotel visit, I couldn’t resist the wait and scarfed a big piece of telur ikan in the car. The husband, who does not favor stinky stuff just could not say anything to a craving woman except making me promise to never bring the telur ikan into the bedroom. Oh hey, I wasn’t listening when he said that.

The cousins are going to Lake Tahoe today and shall return to the city for 2 days before heading to LA. This is not their 1st trip here and they're pretty road savvy when it comes to travelling. Tomorrow night, we're going to have a big dinner at our favorite indian restaurant, yay!

Hmmm…serious talk now.

The kids are flying to Singapore on Monday. The daughter is nervous about flying without her parents. Eventhough the brother says,'Well, your BIG brother will be here with you!'…like that’s going to make her feel better...

Another reason why she is nervous is cos of her father. She has been pretty 'hard hearted' with her father for many reasons. It is a pretty sore subject to her where her father's concern. But last night, bapak called and told me the latest news about their father. That hes living with a divorcee (God knows if he married the woman cos the last time bapak asked he was not married to her) with 3 kids. As you know, my network of family is HUGE…a cousin said that she saw my ex with 2 kids and a boy called him 'ayah'.

Anyway, bapak is concern about the kids visiting their father due to his marital situation. He does not want the kids to be confused. As you know, this ex matter is also my sore subject. So I told him that I would discuss this matter with the husband who is more experienced in this.

The husband, being american and seeing that cohabitation is not an issue here says that we should tell the kids on whats happening to their father before bapak says it and makes it sound negative. Well…that kinda made sense to me.

Long talk…the truth was said, the son was happy that his father found another. Who cares if hes married cos son says that that’s not his business. But he will be happy to meet their father. The little lady on the other hand was crying when she heard the news. Not cos her father has found a woman but the hurt….the hurt that she has been feeling from the divorce never left her.

Again, this is a sore subject to me. I could not say a word when she was bawling. I had to signal the husband indicating that she was uncontrollable. So there the husband again, comforted her and put some senses in her. All she said to us was,'WHY do I have to go see him? Where was he when I was 7? Where was he when he promised to see us every weekend when we were there? He also did not give us child support!'. As you know, I get emotional when this happens.

This morning, I asked the daughter how she was feeling. She said,'I don’t know, still sore but a little better'. I tried to talk to some senses into her telling her that she should see her father just to keep in touch and it is good for her father to have found another woman. Then she said,'You know that I love you the most and noone can replace you right?' Now wasn’t that sweet? And I said,'I know, and I will always love you too. But I will feel so happy if your father's girlfriend loves you too. More people to love you!'. We left the conversation as that.

So now our main project before the kids leave for Singapore is to try change the daughter's adamant mind about not seeing her father. But if it fails, then she had been told that noone will ever force her to see her father. When paps goes to Singapore, paps could take her to see her father.

My kids are so precious to me. Yes, I admit that I do get very possessive with them especially when it comes to their father. But I cant deny that they have a father and they deserve to get to know their father instead of growing up with ill feelings toward him ('the ex being always a jerk' aside).

The last visit, I was not allowed to meet the ex in person as the husband says that I would have a shouting match with him (from experience). But maybe my attitude would change this time. Maybe I will get to see the woman who is making him happy…not to judge, but at least to feel relief that the ex is finally picking up his pieces, which I had done more than 5 years back. Maybe this time, the visit will also be an eye opener for me, who knows.

Hormonal Neonates

Kids with bapak in March this year

How do you deal with kids of whom are turning 14 in a few months time and another whos 12, whose hormones are everywhere, uncontrolled and could I say 'out of whack'? Sounds like me, the pregnant mommy? Heh…it gets harder when you're pregnant with raging hormones while raising kids who are just going through the same hormonal issues like you!

Oh how much I love my kids but sometimes, I wish I had the energy to jump up and down like them, not pregnant to play catch rugby ball with them at the beach, and run for the bus every morning instead of missing it (they run for the bus for me and tell the driver to wait for their pregnant mom to come…in a few seconds!).

With one whos 13, going on 14 in just a few months, this boy is a raging teenager. A good boy as the husband and I always try to convince ourselves but can a teenage parent reader here please support my statement that teenage boys do not think full time? They do what they think is cool and get into trouble with parents over something that they thought they would not get caught on, forgetting that at least one of their parents were born and grew up in the US and knows the 'bull cr*p' of teenagers? Heh…we sometimes tell the son that he has to be a little smarter to outwit their parents.

But the good side of this dearest son of mine is that, he is very considerate to his mom. Lets mom walk in front of him, opens door and carries bag for his mom and also offers drinks for his mom (if he doesn’t forget!). My 'showoff' munchkin!

Now, what should I say about the other girl who is still 12? She gets raging hormoes during PMS time. Her brother's her closest victim followed by her mom (poor old me). Of course, I do not keep track of her period dates. We let her be wicked, give her warnings until we're at the end of our thread and threaten to punish her when the next day she says,'Ibu, my period came this morning'. So that explains it! But how long do we have to deal with this monthly hormone rage? Till she moves out I guess! We also have been asking her too many times if shes having voice tone or hearing problems cos she speaks at high decibals when she communicates with a member of the family. It was as if, her brother was at the backyard but in fact, right next to her when she 'yells' and not speak, to him. Again we tell her,'Act like a young lady not like a street walker!'

The good side of her is that, she tucks me in when I am not feeling well, shares her feelings with me when shes in dilemma and does care for everyone in the house including the cats. My little love ball!

I know that I will not have issues when I have the little munchkin at the end of the year. Help will be in hand when I need it and I am sure the little munchkin will get lots of love from his/her bigger siblings.

I am grateful to Allah for my kids and the little one coming.

As for the husband (you must be wondering why you're not mentioned in this entry). Hang on, Father's Day is just around the corner…be patient, you know I love you!

Do I have to give you a hint that you have offended me?
Why do I have to let you know that you have done so?
If you are a friend, don’t you need to know this?

Here's one thing about me, I am a giver ,
But sometimes I am a taker too, especially from friends
I do not expect the highest mountain in the world,
Nor do I expect a bag of gold…

All I need is gratitude
I am tired of being treated as a doormat
All I did for you was give, give and give
But in the end, I get nothing out of it…it was like I never helped

It is more than just being a friend,
More than just sharing happiness,
But remember, your friends are not doormats!
They are here when you need help,
But they can also run away when they feel like they have run out of favors for you,
We are also not 'courts in waiting'

Try asking yourself why your friends are doing this to you,
Is it cos of YOU?
Or is it cos your friends?

Think about it…if you still don’t get it,
Then THINK HARDER!!!

Here comes the Sun...

Ahhh its Friday….bright and sunny Friday! There will be no softball or baseball game tonight and no cats or kids to run to the vet and the field. This evening will be a quiet early Friday (finally!).

Just wanted to share my joy about my beloved son. Yesterday was a good day for him. His school team that he's in won the inter school softball league championship. He also brought back his Poetry Award that he won last month within the school district. His poetry was selected and posted at the Daly City (that’s our city) library. That’s my boy!!!

Saturday will be a busy busy busy day for us. Starts with the daughter and her Eye Dr appointment, followed by the son's baseball game and then pick the cat up to go to the ophthalmologist (he has a growth in his eye). So much to do with so little time.

Happy Weekend!

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?

How did my weekend go?

It surely has not been a bad weekend so far.

A cousin called on Thursday evening saying,'Hello, I'm here!!!'....so I asked,'Here as in where? Geylang?'...'Nolah, here in San Francisco! I just flew in from Oregon and was deployed to San Jose for a few days before flying back to Singapore'. Nice...he was visitor number 5 who would call only when they are geographically here in San Francisco with no advance notice. But we're used to it. Being hosts...we get overjoyed with friends and relatives who call when they're here, last minute or not, but happy that they think of us!

So the weekend was all about the son and his first baseball game, and a cousin whom I have not seen in 2 years.







So far, I am doing OK. I can admit, I think I have gained one or two more pounds. The tummy has mysteriously grown overnight. I officially can't fit into my Levis 515 Low Rise anymore. The maternity jeans fits me in the waist and tummy now but the thighs and hips still 'dangling' (means still oversized lah). The maternity t shirts fit me like a glove too. Sigh...baby number 3, seems like the tummy will be 3 times bigger.

The next gynae appointment will be on Wednesday, hoopefully, more update! Stay tuned...

Patience...

…a very very challenging word in my life right now which I do not have much choice but to have it close to my ears, heart and head!

First comes patience with my own body. I feel that my body is a factory, lots of things happening 'down there', 'in there' and 'up there'. From mild cramps, to back ache to nausea to weakness in my body. When I get home, all I want to do is to be in bed, watch Dr Phil and doze off! I keep aplogizing to the kids for being such a weakling. That ibu does not mean to shun them off but ibu has no energy to sometimes have a conversation with them. But its great when they come to the bed to talk to me instead.

Then patience for the kids. My son, who is 13, has learned some 'not so good' elements in life. Not that hes turning into a bad boy…but sometimes this boy (or like many other boys) feel that honesty is not the best policy? Or that homework is not mandatory or that he just does not care of his surroundings at home and losing his $29 a month bus pass and not even telling us. Here comes the paps and ibu having to give him lectures at home on how to be responsible (I am sure he had heard it 100x) and that doesn’t work, we do not spare the rod.

The daughter, who is 12, has not been nice to everyone lately. PMS aside, she has this pitch number 10 when she speaks to everyone at home. She would pick fights and loves to argue over nothing at 6am every morning. She can be a darling that’s for sure. She knows that ibu is mad when ibu doesn’t talk to her. Shes the most honest person on earth too!

The husband, now this one is a reversed patience. HE is the one who has been patient with my complains, my backache, and my cravings. Sometimes I do feel like I was ignoring him as all that I ever want to do at night is sleep. When I have my head in the toilet bowl, he rushes into the bathroom and has this wet towel ready to puy on my forehead to soothe the nausea. Needless to say about cooking dinner almost every night. With my moodiness, he has been a very patient husband. I wouldn’t know what I would do without him.

That’s why I keep telling myself that I have to be patient all the time. To count to 10 when I get mad at the kids. To cut them some slack for my sake. I do not want to get stressed and naik darah as I don’t have the energy to do so.

Sigh...

Blogging nowadays can sometimes be a drag….when I am still half awake every morning, hoping that everyday would be a weekend morning. How I wish!

Last Thursday was my first gynae appointment. She is also my new Dr after changing medical insurance from the lousy one last year. This Dr was recommended by my co workers, who apparently share the same panel of gynaes!

The weighing machine weighed me ….2 lbs heavier. Boleh tahan! If I didn’t wek wek, I must have gained 5 lbs! Then the visitation room. Since I hadn't had a PAP smear since 2 years ago (I believe in PAP smears every 3 years!), I was advised to wear this disposable pink surgical gown with the opening to the front. The gynae will also do a yearly breast exam for me. So there I was, in my pink gown, on the examination table, looking around the med office.

Hmmm…its been a while since I last saw a gynae due to pregnancy…the ultrasound machine looks different. Smaller, unlike 12 years ago. They also do electrolysis, permanent hair removal…which is VERY attractive to me (seriously thinking).

The gynae came in, very very nice asian lady, in her 30s. We sat and had a casual conversation, talked about ourselves. Making silly jokes about my last child being 12 years old, built in babysitters!

Then the PAP smear (which I hate) and the breast examinations were done. Not too bad. Then she did an ultrasound scan for the baby. The embryo was kinda big…then the jelly bean…teeny little jelly bean glistening…which was the heartbeat. It surely was nice and relieved to see that my baby is well, in the right position and with a heartbeat!

Click on picture for bigger image

The next appointment will be next week, this time the husband is coming along.

Lastly, I would like to thank Cik Adik Ayu kita tuh who has been tirelessly calling me though sometimes I really could not answer the phone due to Ely was puking, Ely was falling asleep or Ely was giving her husband a hard time. Ayu has been offering me food…volunteering to get me food should I get last minute cravings. Alas, when I am having morning sickness, I don’t crave! I assured Ayu that the time for her to bring me food will come very soon…just standby! We all at home love you Ayu!