The Three Octoberians

…will soon be the four octoberians, insyaAllah. october's always been a very hectic month, probably the busiest out of the year. exams top the list this month, for both schools. and then there's concerts and graduations. for this year there was also football tournament for amir and his check-ups with a dietitian. then there is of course, the three birthdays. for hubby and me, there's no more big celebration, just a small family dinner sometimes separately, sometimes together.

this year, with me hitting the last 4 weeks of pregnancy, i was not up to having any celebration, small dinner or otherwise. but my mom wanted to have lunch one sunday, i thought, why not bring over a cake for ariff, the fact that it was 4 days before his actual birthday would be a sure surprise for him. hubby bought him a 10-pack hot wheels set. i asked salwa from juz cakes, who were so nice to accept a last minute request. ariff loved his hot wheels cake. i was also surprised by hubby and my sis with my own ice-cream cake.

of course, we still went for dinner on ariff's actual birthday. again, at chili's. hubby surprised ariff with another gift, a steering wheel that he now carries everywhere.

for my birthday, 3 days after ariff, we went out for dinner at tony roma's. i wanted to escape chili's but wanted somewhere nearby, considering it would be monday the next day. so it was the same venue, different restaurant.

hubby's birthday the week after was a family dinner, like me, at chili's, like ariff. we went before the actual day as i was schedule to be admitted for delivery on hubby's birthday and did not want to stuff myself with a big dinner the night before.

Week 37 - Preparation

with roughly 4 weeks to go before we hit the full 9 months (38 weeks), i have somewhat settled the preparation to welcome baby no 5. 6 weeks ago i had basically nothing done, now i'm pretty much ticked everything i listed down. the past 6 weeks was just me making list, browsing, comparing prices, contacting seller, redoing list and purchasing items.

this time around, clothes took a back seat. yes, i still bought some but not many. we focused on the big items as we've given away all of them when we moved 2 years ago. while clothes took a back seat, they were the first things i bought. of course, you can't go wrong with mothercare. i grabbed them during the sale and from someone who shipped over from the UK. i also grabbed some from FOS especially in newborn sizes. i added socks and swaddling blankets to the list as i've given those away, i just kept clothes of the 4 eais.

cot bumpers and comforters…

of course the toiletries...

then came the feeding items - formula, avent bottles, sterilizer, drying rack.

and then the bigger stuff - cot, changing table, bathtub, playpen, car seat and stroller.

i have more stuff on the list, particularly for the next few months - baby cook, baby snug, food feeding items.

there's also stuff for me - maternity clothes (which i wore over and over again for 6 months), maternity belt, postnatal pack, postnatal clothes (thin t-shirts, long pants, socks), maternity pad, undies and the postnatal massage service (which i tried before deciding on)

once the changing table arrived in early september, i set out to wash and fold the clothes and organize the changing table. i like the many, many compartments and drawers of the table.

Week 37 - Hanging In There

at my last check up (week 35) my gynae has basically said we can choose a date, and chose a date she did - 15 october. that was yesterday. i couldn't bring myself to say ok, even though i would love to! akmal's concert is top of my priority at the moment. above my tiredness, above my pain, above the heaviness. i would endure a few more days, just to be able to see my baby perform with his 6 year old classmates and especially to see him giving the opening speech.

he was chosen to do this by his class teacher way back in may, he has been practicing ever since, and no way i would miss this special moment. because of that, i chose a day after akmal's concert - 20 october. unfortunately, it would coincide with amir, asyraf & ariff's year-end examination.

i have been having lower body pains for a couple of months. not being able to sleep, not due to contractions but more of difficulty in getting a good position for a good night's sleep. getting cramps while asleep is also a major pain. i can't carry a lot of things, can't bend down and can't climb up my car. driving is a bit of a problem, particularly because my stomach gets in the way. and the contractions and cramps too.

i had another check up today. i couldn't drive this time so i had to follow hubby's office time. akmal missed school to accompany me. we arrived very early. nothing was opened - not the clinic, not the coffee shop - but at least i didn't have to drive. we waited outside the clinic for about 20 minutes before the clinic assistant opened the door. wow…can't remember the last time i was first in line at any of the clinics in dsh. waking up early does have its benefit.

akmal and i went for a leisurely breakfast before making our way back to the clinic. about an hour at the coffee shop and slightly less at the clinic, the doctor called us in. she's early too, yeay. the first thing she asked when i came in was - you're refusing ctg when you're having contractions? i asked her back - am i having contractions? she said she can tell by the way i breathe and the way my stomach tightens, so yeah, i was having them.

i told her i'm in denial, i can't miss akmal's concert. she gave me a look and a long sigh. ok, let's compromise, she said. if you are 3cm dilated, you just video message the concert and be admitted today. if you are not, you can attend the concert but come in first thing monday morning. alhamdulillah, it was the latter. contraction is sporadic, there's no bleeding, there's no pain but i was to stay off my feet (u-huh…rightttttt) and i was to be ready in case anything out of the norm happens between today and monday. so a little breather for now but nothing's set in stone just yet.

for now, i just entered by 37th week (i saw the 2 GAs on the doctor's monitor - one was 37 weeks and a couple of days, the other was 36 weeks and 5 days). the baby weighs 2.6kg on screen. the doctor said she can feel some parts of the baby just under my stomach, other parts are already set for delivery. i had constipation 2 weeks ago but no longer now, confirms my guess that the baby have moved. my feet are also swollen, another confirmation of delivery date nearing.

ok, so i can't have my 20 october as i wanted and hubby gets to share his birthday with someone - one less birthday for him to remember. he also gets to join a football game next week and in return, he will take a 1-month break from footie. ok lah…wins all around.

so a (somewhat) restful weekend for me…other than uniform ironing, hubby's birthday dinner, akmal's concert, packing hospital bags and school bags. come monday, come a new week, we'll be a family of 7, insyaAllah.

School Year 2016

yes, i started early. there's 2 more months of school this year and i'm already ticking off the list for next year bit by bit.

first is stationeries. went with my sister to becon. they had a whole wide range of stuff and i didn't know where to begin. i joined their membership to get some ker-ching off already not-to-bad prices. i managed to almost everything for the boys. i didn't like their pencil case range but i think they can recycle theirs from this year, especially for agama school. but essentially, everything else was bought today.

they're all kept safely until december when i will finally take them out of the plastic casings and give them out to the boys.

if we do go out in the next couple of weeks, we'd probably get school bags for ariff and akmal. amir and asyraf's bags are still in very good condition - well, asyraf had promise to hold on to his arsenal bag till he's in year 6 so that's one down. i also need some lunch bags, especially for akmal and ariff.

then it'll be the uniform. which would be from one place and by hubby, not me, yeay. and then the shoes, also by hubby, not me. and then to sew on name tags and badges. and errr…that's about it, i guess. i hope adidas would be having another factory sale soon because i want to get their water tumblers. i really like those the best.

i like planning ahead. it saves a whole lot of energy and time and frustration.

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...