On stretch mark..

Just to share with you an article on strecth mark that I found at http://pregnancy.baby-gaga.com/calendar/week22

And how's mom doing? Take a moment to think about this: your uterus has now stretched to such unholy proportions that it extends beyond your navel! The not-so-exciting part of this remarkable fact is that growth like this tends to leave stretch marks and can itch like nobody’s business. If you're genetically prone to get stretch marks (you are if you already have stretch marks elsewhere) it's unlikely you'll be able to completely prevent them during pregnancy.

Don’t get suckered into buying really expensive creams that supposedly make stretch marks ‘magically disappear.'Stretch marks are scars on your skin and won’t disappear with a topical cream .

But feel free to apply all the aloe-vera (and other anti-itch lotions) to alleviate the itching. In terms of preventing their appearance, cocoa butter-based creams and creams full of Vitamin E have a reputation for helping-- but there's still no guarantee that those pesky stretch marks won't show up despite your best creaming-up efforts.

Waiting in agony..

I'm going to be 38 weeks + 4 days tomorrow.. Any signs of her coming out? Nil, nothing, zilch! I am REALLY hoping that the baby would come out within this week but so far there is no indication of labour at all. My Braxton Hicks contraction is not getting any frequent and the baby's head has not yet engage. The anticipation is killing me, urgghh..

My tummy is so big that a lot of ppl at the hospital thought I am carrying a twin. I had difficulty in walking and jalan dah terkengkang-kengkang to support my big belly. Each day at my work place, rasa-rasanye nak berjalan dari clinik to surau in NICU, adalah 10 orang tegur " Tak bersalin lagi???? Uiii, besarnya perut, bila due???" I guess my lil girl ni extra shy, lagi ramai orang tanya lagi dia malu nak keluar..heheheh..

My ever increasing (not to mention very, very itchy) stretch mark is also driving me up the wall.. tak mampu dah nak tahan tgn ni dari menggaru. I'm cursed with having a very nice map on my skin and the very famous and expensive Bio Oil or Matern Programme Stretch Mark cream did not help at all. I guess it's all genetics..

I'm due to see my gynae at PMC, the very sweet Dr Idora this coming Saturday. Will I need IOL (induction of labour) or will I be subjected for C-section due to big baby? Let's see what she has to say ya.

Walking down the memory lane..

I never like animals! I’m not cruel or having anything against them but I just never like to have furry things in my house. The thought of having to feed them and manage their poo poo just doesn’t appeal to me. I must have inherrited this gene from who else, my dad of course.

I can still remember the last time our family had a pet was when I was around 4 or 5 years old living in our old rented house in Taman Kajang Jaya. We had 2 cats: Musa and Mahathir .. hahahaha.. both were named after Malaysian ministers (obviously) as my dad were into politics! I did not have vivid memory of Mahathir (I think he died quite young) but our family loved Musa. There’s nothing unusually special about him, he looked just like any regular Malaysian cat (no fluffy furs or what..), orange in color with some white spots.

What I could recall the most was when he got hit by a car and fractured his bones. We did not have a vet at the time (and don’t think we could afford bringing him to see one). My dad, acting like a orthopedic surgeon, tied his broken leg onto a stick to hold the bone in position and help him walk. We even gave him panadol to ease the pain (Did we overdose him and how do we know how much to give back then??) Anyways, he died not long after that and since then, our family did not own any more pets.

I will try my very best to dig in some old picture of mini me with Musa posing in front of our old house.. I'm sure it is hidden somewhere at my parents place in Bangi. I shall upload 'em in my blog once it is available..

In loving memory:

Musa and Mahathir.. passed in 1980s..

We missed you..

3rd trimester mayhem

At 37 weeks: catching a midnite movie..

Finally, I have reached into the final stage of the pregnancy, which is the most tiresome of all three. The baby is growing rapidly and I can feel her movements were getting less frequent but definitely stronger.

I became lethargic very easily during the day partly due to the sleepless nights that I had. I got up several times at night to empty my bladder. I always asked Ahmad the next morning, “Abang sedar tak berapa kali Mxx bangun pegi toilet?” and he said “Sedaaar, takkan la tak sedar…” Hmm.. funny, I could detect his hesitant reply and knew straight away the he was bluffing. How could he be awake when I can see him sleeping soundly and hear the sound of him snoring!

During this period, indigestion and reflux caused me to sleep upright and I barely can move and shift my sleeping position due to severe back pain. There are times that I had attacks of leg cramps which forced Ahmad to wake up in the middle of the night to give me a quick massage followed by an MC the next day. Do you think I should be taking double dose of calcium supplement?

Anyways, I’ve stopped doing oncall since 33 weeks as my pregnancy prevents me from berlari or jalan laju2, thus makes it difficult for me to attend to emergency cases immediately. I always turned up 1 hour LATE for work and luckily my colleagues understood that I’m moving extra slow :p

Towards the end of my pregnancy, my weight has increased dramatically! I don’t think I eat that much but I attributed the sudden rise due to water retention. My feet were swollen like an elephant that my size 6 hush puppies sandal became too tight for me to wear (and I normally put on size 5 shoes!). I woke up with a painful and stiff finger joints (thanks to Carpal Tunnel syndrome) that I felt like an old arthritic lady. I looked fat and I don’t feel attractive anymore.

My edematous feet, see.. my feet can't fit in..

How do I cope? I still go to work as usual (to kill the time), shop in the time of leisure, make full use of my hubby’s presence (to massage and do house chores) and wear make up to make me feel pretty again..

But deeply, I start to wish that the baby would come out and the pregnancy will be over soon!

Mayumiiii.. meow meow

Mayumi taking a nap.. posing maut, you!

The only person in the family who is a cat person would be my eldest sister, Kak Nunu and her son, Abe Muttaqi, as well as Eida my younger sis. Since Kak Nunu has her own house, having her own cat doesn’t really bother us until the latest one that she had, by the name: MAYUMI. Being a very busy businesswoman (goes for outstation a lot), this cat ends up spending most of his time at my parents house. Eida, who used to stay at my parents adored him and took care of him when he was young until recently when she left to work at Kota Kinabalu. Now the responsibility falls on my mom’s maid, Halimah.. hahahha.. She has to bath him once in 3 days with his Blueberry shampoo, make sure he is well fed and his poo poo sands are cleared and cleaned. I’m excused of this challenging task as handling cat’s poo poo is obviously dangerous for pregnant lady.

Mayumi is somewhat an adorable cat. We used to make sure that he stays in the house as not to mingle with 10 dirty stray cats outside our door. Being curious Lil Mayumi, he still tries to find any possible way of getting out and play (catching butterflies, eating grass (yup, I think he is more of herbivore) and trying to be friendly with The Strays). Ever so often, he even got himself into cat fight (I guess other cats are jealous of him) and got himself injured.. but that doesn’t stop him from going outside and enjoy the world..

My dad used to hate him. He will jump the minute he heard the sound of him and asked us to lock the cat in the kitchen. Once, my mom told me, my dad was having dinner alone and being almost blind (due to some medical condition) he could not see that Mayumi was actually curling on the dining table next to him. Fortunately, Mayumi doesn’t eat human food and only takes his usual friskies diet. My dad freaked out when he tak sengaja tersentuh the furry Mayumi!!! Shocked and angry, he quickly pushed him off the table, poor Mayumi, he was just keeping him company..

However, I noticed nowadays that my dad grew fond of him.. He’ll ask ‘Mayumi lapar? Dah makan?’ whenever he heard his meows. I was utterly surprised by his change.. My mom also loves him that sometimes she even brought him along to the wet market (of course he is left in the car!)..

Anyways, odd behaviour that Mayumi has is he likes to sleep during the day. Not take a short nap but REALLY doze off for 5-6 hours non stop especially in an airconditioned room. Is it some kind of illness or diurnal variation that a cat has? Luckily he doesn’t eat much or he’ll end up heavy and lazy just like his mate GARFIELD. Heheheh.. Whateva it is Mayumi.. we all lurve you!

Movie Nite..

Every weekend, as usual me and hubby had a date night aka movie night.. Our favourite place to go would be JJ Bukit Raja coz dekat,less traffic, ample parking space and the cinema is only on the 1st floor (tak payah jalan jauh2)..

Last weekend, I wanted to watch back-2-back movies, Inception and Knight and Day. My sister and friends gave good reviews on Knight and Day, action packed, kelakarlah and of course, ada Encik Tom Cruise and Cik Cameron Diaz! Unfortunately, the movie was not shown at Bukit Raja TGV and finally we decided to just settle with watching one movie: Inception..

Boy oh boy.. was I in for a BIG surprise... I bloody LURVE it!!! The movie was very dark and complicated that I was mentally exhausted after watching it. Drama after drama and action after action that it just blew my mind away. I should give standing ovation to the very handsome and talented Leo d Cap, that guy from 3rd Rock and Ellen Page, the Juno girl and the rest of the casts for their commendable performance.. Tabik tabik.. I was so into Inception that I don't think I was in for another movie for probably another week until my mind is free and well rested hhahah.. BTW, do u know that the director of this movie also directed The Dark Knight? No wonder the essence of both motion pictures were familiar.. mind boggling!

My verdict: 4.5 dandy stars

Anyways, since my baby still wants to hybernate in her mommy's womb, me and hubby decided to go for another movie 2 nights ago.. The Walt Disney's The Sorcerer's Stone.. All in all, it was so-so (magic collided with science = I'm confused!) , predictable storylines with no memorable scenes. I don't know why but I was particularly irritated with the boy who acted as the protege (see, I can't even remember the character's name!).. his voice and facial expression just annoyed me!! The only main attraction for the movie would be the suave Nicholas Cage! I won't recommmend this movie to anyone unless you're planning to treat your kids for some not-so-magical adventure (it's 13pG).

My verdict: 3 dandy stars

My ecstacy..

Too bad that today my hubby had to attend a full day course which left me all alone at home on a weekend! I took leave of absence for the last 2 days, on Thursday as I had an appointment with Dr Idora and yesterday due to leg cramps which occured more frequently as both my lower limbs are getting more swollen! I was full rested thus I decided to go out to The Curve, all alone shopping..

I can't stand all the attention that I received nowadays. People are giving me sorry/pitiful eyes as they saw me walking like a mother duck, terkedek-kedek with my very big tummy. Even the pump guy at a petrol station who helped me fill up the gas said, " Takpe ke kak, jalan2 dan drive kereta sorang2?" and my reply was, "Nak buat camana dik, kalau saya nak terberanak sekarang, awak hantar saya gi spital eh ;) ".... heheehe..

After the short pit stop at Petronas NKVE, I headed to the Curve and thank goodness, the road was still quite clear and there was ample parking space as I make a point to get out early to avoid all the congestion. I went directly to the 1st floor of the Curve where all the mother and baby shops were located, bought some stuffs (one of it was unplanned..) went down and hang out at Starbucks at the Borders, ordered hot chocolate and read some free gossip and parenting magazines..hahahha...

Before I headed home, I decided to drop by at my sister's house at Kota Damansara to see my nephews and niece and to have a chat. I had a cup of Kak Mar, her maid's signature Teh Tarik and went back home.

These are the things that I bought today:

1) 2 Fabulous Mom Jill nursing bra from Little Haven
- though I already have 5 Autumz bra (all are unpadded) , I've decided to try out Fabulous Mom's padded bra so as to avoid embarassment of having your 2 'things' showing and the discomfort of wearing nursing pads. It also comes in a pastel lilac colour, which I think looks rather cute :)

2) Mothercare bump and beyond soothing nipple cream
- I've been wanting to buy this cream since my mom, my sister and even my sister's maid been bugging me since earlier this week, telling me to apply it before the baby arrives. They said it is important to moisturize and soften your nipple to prevent from sore and cracked nipple later on as milk production will be minimal on the first few days. I already have Purelan gel 7gm (very small tube) which I got for free when I bought my Medela FS but unfortunately was left at my mom's place. So I decided to try this cream from Mothercare 100ml for RM 32 (+ additional 10% off) which is relatively cheap. The downside is I need to clean the breast before and after feeding, unlike Purelan that contained Linolin, which is safe for your baby and allows direct BF after using.

3) 2 pair of baby dress also from Mothercare priced RM 106 (+ additional 20% off). This is definitely an unplanned purchase and I have to come up with a reason for buying more baby clothes to my hubby.. He won't be happy with it as my shopaholic instinct always threw me off budget. He is the sane one and I should never be left alone at a shopping mall! But how can I resist all these cute baby wear????
4) 2 pyjama tops that I bought from Metrojaya sale, each for RM 13.90!! The good thing is the tops are front buttoned which I'm planning to wear at the hospital after the delivery.

5) My dad's medications.
- My mom called me last week and frantically asked me to buy my dad's medications for his hypertension and heart problem. My dad, with his gastric ulcer, could not tolerate Aspirin and can only take Clopidogrel.. and he specifically wants Plavix (a brand). It costs d' bomb with 14 tabs = RM 140!! I bought him the same medication before but different brand (obviously for its cheaper price but similar function) but my parents said it still caused him stomach discomfort.. erkkk?? I guess, I just have to comply to their request and get them the first class medication..
So I went to Alpha Pharmacy at Dataran Sunway and bought him 2 boxes of Plavix (1 box 14 tabs, 1 tablet/day) and 1 box of Felodipine (28 tablets, 1 tablet/day). Luckily the pharmacist on duty was actually working in the same hospital as me and we had quite a nice chat. I registered as a regular customer with the pharmacy which allows me to collect points and get a special price on certain medications. As a doctor, I also get discounted price, so in total, I paid RM 288 instead of RM 433!!

So, tomorrow I'm going back to Bangi to visit my parents and passed him his VERY expensive prescription drugs..