Week 35 - Fortnightly Check-Ups

i've begun my fortnightly check-ups. the last was two weeks ago and now i'm back at the hospital in such a short notice. if we make it past another week, then we're all set. at least my gynae would be happy i hung on til the 36th week - although i personally am so ready to visit the labour room again.

i haven't been doing much between the last check up two weeks ago as we've had a public holiday and school closure a couple of days due to haze and the mid term school holidays. i do my best errand work when the boys are not around, since they were around we just hung out at home. i did however manage to grab the cot bumper that was on my list on one of our lunch trips and wash two loads of laundry, but that's about it. i thought i'd do more next week once the boys go back to their normal schooling schedule (agama school is still off this week) but every's surprisingly been settled.

this time i took amir & akmal instead of asyraf & ariff. all four boys had the day off courtesy of the haze. i made them decide who wanted to follow me and who wanted to spend time in damansara. amir & akmal chose dsh while the other two chose the d. not much changes this time, still feeling the contractions. pretty much very scheduled contractions, actually. late morning for about an hour and after dinner for about an hour. during those times, the boys have an exciting time looking at my stomach. its become a nightly routine for them to ask me to pull up my shirt and let them see the baby moving around.

i tried to ask for a 3D scan. i didn't do any this time around and now i'm slowly regretting. because my gynae's a bit serious while doing scans during this pregnancy, 3D scans really just took a back seat. i had a clear view of ariff's and akmal's faces last time around and i just don't know how this one looks like. she did not think it was a good idea as the baby is already engaged. the scan only showed the bottom part of the body and it was facing down.

while the baby is engaged, it still wasn't labour time. its only halfway engaged, more contractions to come to make it more engaged over the next couple of weeks. because it has began the engage, the doctor finally decided to talk about dates. that and the fact that the safe 36 weeks period is coming up. she gave me a couple of week and decided on 15 october - later in the week as opposed the earlier due to a public holiday cropping up right in the middle of that week. i wasn't keen on the date as akmal's graduation (a major event in my life) would be mere 3 days after that.

so we decided on 19 or 20 october. 20 is my first choice as i wanted 20 to be the same as asyraf (20 november) and out anniversary (20 february). yes, i'm a stickler for matching mundane things. so yes, that's the date we target. however, i'm to be on my toes in case there are signs before that day - which i hope there's none. at the moment, i am sooo ready to pop but i am controlling myself as i desperately need to be at akmal's graduation.

so that's pretty much it. i've got another check up 2 weeks from now. and then, we'll leave everything in the hands of Allah swt. the boys are excited, i am nervous, hubby's a bit stressed as i'm transferring the boys all to him for two months heh heh...

Second Mid-Term Break 2015

this year's second mid-term break felt like a prolonged holiday, what with the school closure due to the year six exams and then the haze. i have not had to iron the boys' uniform for the longest time…yeay!

on the first day of the holiday i made the boys change their bedsheets and duvet covers. i've been putting off doing them as i could not find the energy. seeing it was a sunny day, i quickly got them to bathe and put them to work. they changed their bedsheets and took down their duvet for me to bring over to the dry cleaners. then i shoved everything in the machine and, once done, got the boys to air them outside.

after lunch they were rewarded with the monopoly (which i had forgotten i bought). they played till hubby came home and took us out for dinner at a new mexican restaurant near home.

i took the boys out for lunch on the second day of the break. i had to get a couple of things at the mall and 1utama is always an obvious choice now that hubby is based nearby. i got them a new monopoly since the junior game doesn't really show them how to buy and charge rent on properties.

hubby was on leave mid-week so i decided to cook for aidiladha the next day. i wasn't planning on cooking as there would be no one to keep an eye on the boys. but since hubby was at home, and the fact that ariff actually requested for nasi himpit and kuah kacang, i decided to spend a bit of time in the kitchen. there was nothing in the pantry and in the fridge so we had to make a quick stop at jaya grocer on the way back from brunch at citta mall.

thursday was aidiladha. hubby, amir and asyraf went to the mosque very early that morning. they stayed on till late morning to see the cows that would be slaughtered on the day. when they came back we had lemang, rendang, nasi himpit and kuah kacang for breakfast.

then we made our way to damansara, stopping by the surau to look at more cows, since ariff and akmal didn't get to see earlier in the day.

on friday, we made a last minute decision to take the boys for a movie and sushi. i actually had to get a haircut and the car had to be washed, so we did all three at the same time. i treated akmal to a haircut and a hair wash to keep me company.

saturday was a surprising day. it was so bright and sunny in the morning, then became all hazy come lunchtime. ariff helped to clean the tv room while hubby did some diy work. asyraf's friend came over for a quick game of monopoly before the news that the boys' football training had to be cancelled.

sunday was still a hazy day. again, football training had to be cancelled but the boys were surprised by their coaches who dropped by the house.

we went to get victoria steak, which i had been craving for since forever. while at the restaurant, ariff received a special surprise from dato siti nurhaliza.

that's the second mid-term break in a nutshell. full of food and family time. now it seems that the break will continue for another couple of days due to the haze. i had plans the first two days which now have to be amended slightly. haze oh haze...

Week 33 - Counting Down

its been a long, long break between the last check up and this one. in between, i've been feeling tired but energised, getting less sleep but sleeping so soundly, being so overly hungry but able to eat small meals all the time, waking up early every night but can continue to sleep until midday. its been so extreme that it gets too tiring for me.

i wanted to change my check-ups to weekend appointments after this as i'm a bit tired of driving outside our housing area but her clinic isn't open on weekends. asyraf and ariff have also been following and missing their agama classes the past few appointments, which isn't good now that their exam is nearing. guess we have to make do with monday check ups and pray for the best.

i don't know when i want to target my delivery for. i wanted a good date and on a weekday so that hubby will be able to maximise his paternity leave. we decided on 20 october but the boys would be having their year-end exams that week so that's out of the question then. i would need to get an earlier date but there's no good dates before then. both 3 october (to have the same birth date as akmal) and 10 october (just for the 10/10) fall on a weekend and we're not to keen on weekends. so yes, i'm pretty confused and is very lost compared to the previous four.

at the appointment today, after telling her that i've been feeling some contractions and have been jumping head-first into the nesting phase by reorganizing the wardrobe and kitchen cabinet, my gynae gave me a good stare and said, this won't reach end october. i smiled and she went, i'm not happy. i know, i know…i'm really pushing it so i'll tone it down a bit…where i can. we agreed it should at least go past the 36 weeks mark, which is in 3 weeks time. after that point, she said, she'd be happy with delivering.

the baby's now weighing 2kg. it shot up a bit after the last check up, and if it continues to grow this way, it would be a 3kg baby when its delivered (hopefully in 4 weeks, just to be safe). we're starting the two-weekly appointment now but i've been asked to just come in whenever the contractions start to get a bit too often and painful. alhamdulillah, its still manageable now - i'm actually having one as i'm typing this line.

this time around we haven't been doing any 4D scans and i haven't seen clearly how the baby looks. my gynae is very attentive to 'other' aspects and hardly zooms in to see the face or even the gender. she said boy once and girl twice but doesn't dwell much on it. during today's scan, she was focused on brain (she mentioned left and right side) - which she has never done during the previous four - she talked about spine a lot, and bones and position and placenta. its very different from the 'relaxed' scans and check ups i used to have. its the age and the risk involved, i'm guessing.

because gender is hardly mentioned, and the last she said was 'girl', i brought out the choice of names i have picked out and got everyone to cast their votes. if its a boy, which i'm still praying hard it would be, we already know what he'll be called. but girl, because i am soooo in denial, i have ignored choices of names but have had to face reality of the possibility. i wanted the boys to play a role and got them discussing and expressing their feelings, which was lovely to see.

after looking at everyone's choices, hubby and i roughly have decided on the baby's name, should it be a girl. alhamdulillah, another matter sorted.

during the next 3-4 weeks, i'm planning to look for food i've had the urge to eat (not to up to the craving level, just some urges here and there) and doing another load of laundry, and buying a few more things on the list - cot bumper, flask and formula are highest on the list. i'm also trying to cook before putting up my pots and pans for a couple of months - roast chicken, mihun soup with pegedil, mee udang are the ones i will push myself to make. one each weekend, that's good planning.

I'm (Still) Reorganising

my reorganizing phase apparently has not stopped. this time its the kitchen. of all the cabinets in the house, the kitchen cabinets are the ones i am not happy with. the cabinets were installed the last when we moved in and by then i was up to my grey hair with unpacking that i shoves everything in with no proper planning. i know they could have been organized better but i was not up to it anymore. i lived with it for two years, changing a few things here and there, every now and then.

last week i went a bit overboard buying lots (and getting lots of free sets) of tupperware.

because they all came in one shot, like it or not, i had to reorganize the kitchen cabinets. i actually wanted to do this later in the year, when i have purchased the boys' lunch boxes and tumblers for school but had to bring it forward. to make space for the new containers, i had to throw out some of the old tumblers and lunch boxes the boys have.

after washing, drying, throwing out the old, putting in the new, the cabinets look better and more organised…

A Day In The Life #1

of engku ariff iqhwan. who played with soap. too much soap, in fact. so much that he slipped. slipped in the bathroom. and hit his head on the shower door edge. and got a big huge cut. that bled all over the bathroom. because he was trying to clean the wound.

we went to the clinic. and the doctor confirmed he needed stitching. 3 stitches on his head. that made him cry out…the ariff who hardly cries in pain. and mummy got a bit choked up too.

so he's with a head covering for a couple of days. and on antibiotics. and have to see the doctor again in a week's time to take out the stitches.

and on the 3rd day, he fell sick. that got worse towards the night. which turned out was due to flu. the wound was healing nicely, actually.

oh the life of a mummy with boys...