She's finally here!!

About 2 weeks back, on my 36th week check-up, my gynae said tht our baby is going to be big....as the scan showed tht she was already at 3.7 kg. Dr. Paul was concerned tht if we were to wait for her edd on sept 25, she might get too big and it would pose a difficulty to give birth naturally as i had planned.


Dr. Paul suggested tht we should induce the labour. My husband and i did not ask much coz we were not sure wht to ask! I would say we were caught offguard. When i was at 8 mths pregnant, the baby was only at 2.5 kg....and in a month's time, she jumped double her weight! And thn at 37th week, the scan predicted tht she was already at 4.37kg! Aduhai...besarnye anak ibu nih.


So lps checkup last tuh, Dr. Paul gave us a week to think about it. After asking around, did some research and thn ms last check up o Sept 14, we had asked a lot of questions to Dr. Paul....we finally agree to induce the labour on the night of Sept 18 and hopefully to deliver the baby on the next day.


I had checked-in into Prince Court Medical Centre at 7pm and by 8.30pm, the midwife had already inserted the 1st capsule into my cervix. And thn another one at 2.30am. After the second one, br la terasa ade ckit contraction but its bearable la. At 7am, i was moved to the labour room, which is just across the ward. Thn at 8.00am, Dr. Paul came in to break the water bag. Ya Allah, sktnye ms dia nkwat procedure tuh, which actually took less thn 30 seconds. I think hubby got a lil panicked coz he has nvr seen me in so much pain before ;). Sian dia.....

in the labour room.....sleeping, while i can :)

At 7pm, the midwife checked and i had only dilated 7cm. Baby' s heart rate had plunged frm 130 to 80...fetal distress. Dr. Paul made a call for emergency c-sect so tht the baby will not be in danger. At this point, i think i was a bit delarious already due to the pain, pain medication, etonox...at 1 point i was already confused which mask is the oxygen mask and which is the ethonox gas :P. At 8 pm, they got me prep for surgery....syed was holding my hands very tightly. I can see fear and pity in his eyes...he was scared. Me? Just wanted the baby to be safe no matter wht it cost.... Syed requested to be with me during the surgery. Dr. Paul ckp depend if they can do it via epidural, thn he can come in...if in any case they hv trouble administering the epidural (bcoz of my size), thn i would prbbly hv to opt for GA and syed can't come in.


By 8.45pm, i was already rolled in into the OT. Mama was already crying, hubby was crying as well. He kissed me and recited some doa for me before he was ushered to be changed into the OT attire. Long story short......epidural was successfully administered, hubby came in to accompany me at the table....and by 9.26pm, our princess was safely delivered :).... Alhamdulillah.....the nurse gave her to syed and he thn showed her to me. I was numb (literally speaking) as i can't believe tht this beautiful creature in my husband's arm is the baby tht i had carried for the past 9+ months! Thn syed recited the iqamat to our baby.....it was the most beautiful sound i hv heard in my life....only thn it hit me.....i am now a mother :)


After they've stitched me up, i was put on observation for 30 mins, before sending me up to my room. When i finally made it bck to the room, almost everyone was thr.....my mom, hubby, my bro and wife, syafiq and nita, my in-laws....penuh bilik :)! Everybody was esthatic. Soon after, my baby was rolled into the room...all cleaned up.

here she is! My beautiful Sharifah Aaima Nabilah.... 

her details....

She's the most beautiful being i've ever seen :). Within the 1st hour, i had managed to breastfeed her.....alhamdulillah. We were discharged 2 days later.

Ramadhan al-Mubarrak....2011

Alhamdulillah.....Allah telah pjgkn umur kita utk kita nikmati sekali lg Ramadhan yg mulia ini. As for me, this is my 1st Ramadhan as a wife and a pregnant wife lak tuh ;)....hehe....so mencabar iman lar jugak.


But i thank Allah for blessing me with such a wonderful man by my side and of course, my mom. Syed has been so understanding and be taking such a good care of me. Psl mama lak....seriously, aku bersyukur sgt tht we're living with my mom. Blk keje, x pyh nk kelam kabut nk masak coz mama dh prepare almost everything. Aku tinggal nk wat air je. But ade gak la time yg aku sndr masak...usually on weekends, when i have more time.


So far puasa nih aku dapat puasa dgn agak penuh....agak tuh psl on the 8th Ramadhan arituh aku terpaksa tak puasa coz had to do the MGTT test kt Prince Court. In order to do tht test, aku kena minum a huge mug of pure glucose water...weekk! skt giler kpl lps tuh coz it was bloody sweet!! But besides tht, alhamdulillah.....aku dpt berpuasa without much problem. Perut masuk angin, skt kpl tuh biasa la kn.....


Anyway, bulan Ramadhan nih besides drpd memperbykkan amalan kita...i see it as a month utk kita merapatkn hubungan silaturrahim among friends. Ye lar....before nih xde kisah pun nk mkn or dinner sama2 kn? But bila bulan Ramadhan.....ramai yg nk get together utk buka pose....ok lar tuh :)


2nd week of Ramadhan arituh, blh kt byk gak majlis buka pose with my friends....dr zaman skolah smpi lar dr UPM....

If tar with my gang from BSPM at Ben's Pavillion

: May Din, Sashi, Syed, Me & Fiella

Iftar with buddies from MGSS Melaka at Amarin - Heavenly Thai, Mid-V

: Me, Airiza, Zakeeyah, Syafa, Elisa & June

Iftar Alumni Kolej Kedua, UPM at Dewan Kenyalang Kolej Kedua, UPM

*mmg tiap2 tahun (for the past 2-3 years) kitaorg wat gath but nih yg kira paling grand la with almost 50 alumni managed turn-up with their families :)

Berbuka puasa dgn family pun tidak dilupai....both me and Syed dpt bwk both of our families (on a separate occasion) berbuka puasa kat luar. 

Nih diam x diam.....dh nk masuk 23 Ramadhan dh. And i'm already in my 35th week of pregnancy. Next week dh masuk my 9th month dh....so kena standby la....anytime je lps tuh. Hopefully aku dpt la travel to both JB and Taiping for Raya safely.....Baby is moving more actively now. At the slightest thought of me thinking about her, she will start wiggling and kicking :). Smoga sumenye slamat lah hendaknye.....

Selamat Menjalankan ibadah berpuasa, guys!

Stay +ve

2 weeks ago, i had this severe gastric pain, accompanied with diarhea....mula2 tuh ingatkn heartburn coz everyone was telling me it is. But it felt more like gastric. So gi la klinik....as usual the GP perscribe me with those chewable magnesium tablets and ubat angin.

Nk dipendekkan citer, i finally went to see Dr. Wendy (gastric specialist). She has been treating me for my gastric for the past year. She gave me some low dosage pain killer for the gastric...but its safe for the baby, we would always make sure of tht. She told me to try it 1st and come bck to see her in 3 days. 3 days went by, the pain was still there.

So went back to see her....did a blood test and an ultrasound scan. Surprisingly ms wat scan tuh, they found a single stone in my gull-bladder. 8mm in diameter. Dr. Wendy ckp if aku x pregnant, she would have ordered for me to go for a surgery....but since i am, so tht was not an option for now. She'll keep monitoring the stone until i've safely delivered my baby and thn br discuss about the surgery....all the while praying hard tht the gull-bladder would not get inflamed due to infections or apape. Anyway, tht was not the reason nape aku kena gastric la....but it did explained a lot why i was having a back pain on the mid part of my body. Ingatkn psl pregnancy :P.

From the blood test pulak, everything was fine....liver test was good, kidney test was great....the only thing is tht my white blood cell was slightly on a high side. Indicating tht i have some infections. So Dr. Wendy mentioned tht i might have contracted some infections to my stomach (which caused the gastric pain) and it went to my intestines (which had caused the diarhea). She precribed me with some antibiotics and charcoal tablets...and ordered for me to take the rest of the week off. So dpt la mc 3 ari.

But being me kn, the next day tuh still gi office coz dh plan for a training session...for about 2 hours. After session tuh abis, trs aku blk utk rest. Friday dpt la full bed rest but on saturday tuh, i went to give a talk to this program in UPM tht i was invited to. Dh janji nk dtg, so aku make sure aku dtg. X baik rosakkan program org kn. The organizer was very delighted and surprised to see me coz they were informed by my boss tht i was sick. And aku lak, bila dh dpt mic utk berckp, trs lupe sume sakit2....hehe....dr ms jd Pres kt K2 dulu lg perangai tak berubah. No matter how sick i get, but bila dpt je mic utk berucap....perghh! Kalah org sihat ;)....haha.....but alhamdulillah, i had managed to complete the talk within the time given. All the while, en. Hubby meneman di sisi :)

So skrg i'm feeling much better....cuma still kena stay away from very spicy and oily food. At the same time, Dr. Wendy will monitor about the gullstone problem. Aku tak citer to mama coz i don't want her to be worried about it. Ssh ati org tua tu kang. Biarlah dia sronok pikir psl the arrival of her 1st cucu nih. Insya-Allah, everything will be fine....nih la dugaan org preggy kan? Have to stay +ve, aight? ;)

Hello....3rd Trimester!!

Alhamdulillah......pejam, celik, pejam, celik.....i'm already in my 28th week, going on to my 29th soon. Kejap je rsnye, and soon we'll get to see our precious bundle of joy roght in front of our very own eyes :). Rasa cam x sabar sgt nk tgk muka baby....


Smlm was our monthly check-up....praise to Allah, she's growing right on schedule! Her weight and height is just wht the doctor had expected. Dr. Paul did a 4D scan yesterday and we got to see her chubby lil' cheek and her pouty lil' lips...ikut sape lah agaknye?? At 1st when Dr. Paul was showing us the 4D scan, i could not make out the view....but nk control macho punye psl, i went like "haaa....yes, i see her", walhal x nmpk pun. So when the Dr. Paul left the examining table, i quickly call Syed and said "I tak nmpk la..." sounding all squeaky. haha....so, hubby took my hand and started showing which are her legs, arms, eyes and cheek...."Ooo...now i see her!" i sounded so much like Rachel (in Friends episode when she went for her 1st ultrasound scan and could not see the foetus, so Ross had to show it to her)....haha! Thank god for hubby!


Byk gak soalan yg kitaorg tanye kat doctor. Ye lar, tinggal 10-11 weeks je lg pun. Antara questions yg kitaorg tanye were:

• Birth Plan - will the doctor honour if we were to come up with our own birth plan? And Dr. Paul assured us they will try to fully honour it unless there are some changes during the birth itself. Aku pun br dgr psl birth plan nih.

• Breastfeeding friendly environment - I had informed Dr. Paul of my intention to fully breastfeed our baby (jika diizinkan Allah). He assured us tht PCMC is a breastfeeding friendly hospital but dia ckp jugak, yg it also requires some sacrifice and hardwork from both of the parents. He thn gave us the breastfeeding nurse expert no. so tht we may call her and discuss further about it.

• Jaundice - kitaorg tanye is there anything tht i could take and do now, to lower the risk of the baby getting jaundice. Dr.Paul said tht just take healthy food but still there is no guarantee whether the baby akan kena jaundice ke x. Kiranye mcm nasib2 jugak la....sometime ade yg kena, sometime ade yg x kena lgsg...

• Natural birth - actually nih ade skali included dlm birth plan. During my 6th month, doctor did mentioned yg dia risau tht i might have to go for c-sec if i had gained more weight and the baby jd lg besar. My heart sank when he said tht as i was determined to do it naturally. So this time kitaorg discuss and we've made it clear tht i would like to give birth naturally, unless if there is any condition tht either the baby or me are in danger, thn c-sec is an option. Dr. Paul agreed....

And some other health related issue la....like why my left wrist is painful when i tried flexing it? Rupenye kena tendonitis (is this how u spell it??). My right thigh sometimes jd numb, dizzines @ vertigo, migraines, bla, bla, etc....it seems those are a common symptoms for preggy ladies. It should all go away, after the delivery. Moga2 mcm tuh la.....insya-Allah.


With my baby bump getting bigger, i've been getting some awful remarks from some ppl.....kadang2 rs sentap sgt2. A lady at my office dgn selambanye ckp (she literally yelled, actually)..."waahh, semakin gemuk!"....I know B. Melayu may not be her mother tongue....but she should HOLD her freakin' tongue! Sabar je la! Another incident was when i went to do my pedicure 2 days ago. While doing my nails, i guess the girl wanted to make a friendly conversation la. She asked "Are you married?"....so, i just showed her my baby bump....and thn she said "Oh! Tht one, baby ar?? So u're not fat la??"...adoooii!! Rs nk sumbat je kaki ni dlm mulut dia! Bengong sungguh! Tht night bila hubby blk, terus citer smpi nk nangis.....but u know husbands....they always know to say the right words to cool you down :)...hehe...i know i married him for a reason ;).


Anyway, baby is moving a lot right now esp. time mlm. The doctor said as i'm getting closer to full term, the baby will move even more. Best sgt rs nye bila baby gerak2.....i know tht's one of the things tht i'm gonna miss most lps give birth nnt :).

Ben's @ KLCC

Semalam was hubby's 29th b'day! Dh tua dh cik abg saya tuh...and soon to be a daddy :)! Despite the differences in our working hours....we still had managed to run for a quick b'day dinner.

For weeks duk la pikir maner nk bwk hubby. Nk gi kat The Ship mcm a bit too far coz dia x blh kluar dinner lama sgt....thn thought of bringing him to Top Hat, but a couple of years ago dh bwk dia kt ctu dh. Thn i had remembered him saying he wanted to try out this new place tht had just been opened at KLCC....Ben's. So wanting to surprise him....i did not utter a word ms nk ke saner (surprise la konon2!). But as soon as we had reached level 1 kt KLCC, dia trs ckp "Syg nk bwk abg mkn kat Ben's eh??" with tht cute smile of his :). Tak surprise lgsg la....hehe....

Anyway, this was our 1st visit there. Earlier i had called to make a reservation, but i was informed tht they did not take any reservations after 8pm. We were told to just walk-in. Fortunately, tak ramai org mlm tuh (maybe sbb tgh bulan kot??). 

So we walked-in, the mid section of the restaurant was almost fully occupied, but still we had managed to get a good table. The ambiance was romantically litted with dim lights and soft music...but suara org berckp lg kuat sbnrnye, a bit riuh la. It was a relaxed set-up, i would say. Mula2 nk order salad jugak coz in most of the review i had read over the net, ppl were praising their salad selections non-stop but hubby ckp nnt dulu la coz takut main servings tuh is a big portion....x abis lak kang. And you know what?? Thank god i listened to him coz the portion served mmg muat2 perut je....huhu...Paling surprising was we had only waited for slightly more than 5 mins to get our food! Tht is super fast for a restaurant mcm nih....slalunye dlm 15 mins or so la kn....we were actually stunned by this! haha....

 

Hubby's selection : Ben's Nasi Ulam. A huge portion....mcm2 ada! Fried chicken, sambal udang, rendang dgg, pucuk paku,telur masin & keropok. X terhabis hubby mkn. 

Since hubby dh pilih local dish, i had decided to try out the western menu lak. My heart was torned between the Mac n Cheese and Spaghetti Carbonara....but hubby duk geleng je kpl bila i mentioned the word Cheese!! huhu....You see, i'm trying to reduce my weight ckit ms pregnant nih.....so, Cheese = NO! So i had chosen the Carbonara instead.....and boy, i did not see tht coming! It was yummylicious!! Cream was just right....x watery sgt or pekat sgt....the beef bacon sgt sedap! Makan pun x muak. It was just plain perfect :). 

Masa tgk menu before tht...i saw tht they had Red Velvet cake listed in their dessert options. Ingatkn lps mkn, nk order the cake and wat ala2 tiup b'day candle (i had atually brought with me a single candle from office to put on a slice of cake)...but since both dh ke"mentik'kan yg amat sgt, so just pack-to-go je la. After antar hubby blk ofis, i went bck home. 

Later tht night, i had a small surprise for hubby bila dia blk dr keje tht midnight. I stayed up to wait for him and as soon as dia masuk je bilik, i already had the cake waiting for him ;)

note: just in case if anybody was wondering....the cake was super yummy! Very moist...the cream pun just right! i would definitely go back for it again!

All about baby....

Pejam, celik, pejam, celik....dh masuk 25 weeks dh :). Alhamdulillah....baby is doing very well and very healthy. Heartbeat lebih jelas as weeks goes by.


And Alhamdulillah....after my check-up td, dr. confirmkn tht it will be daddy's lil girl! Or to be more precise....abah's lil girl! Hehe... Sejak from the 1st time tht we got to know tht we were expecting, syed decided tht the baby will call him "abah" and i decided to be called "ibu". Bila blk ke rumah, mama dh sibuk tanye dh "dpt tgk x??". So bila ckp tht it's a girl...she was so excited :). i can already picturekn dh how spoilt the baby will be by her Tok Ma. Everytime bila jln2 kat shopping malls, mama will definitely make it a point to enter every baby's boutique utk tgk bj. And pernah dia ckp la "i hope its a girl so tht i can buy her all this boutique dresses"....ikut mama lah....janji duit Tok Ma dia...haha...kitaorg follow je ;)

baby at 6 months....her chin is so distinguished, just like daddy's :)

Anyway, dh masuk 6 bulan nih....we've already started utk beli brg2 baby. So far baby cot, stroller and car seat dh beli...courtesy of mama (save ckit budget kitaorg...hehe). But we were quite lucky coz all those 3 items kitaorg dpt beli dgn harga murah. For example, the stroller and car seat tuh was actually priced at Rm1500 but ntah camner, promoter tuh offered utk bg dia punyer staff price lak. So we had paid less than 40% of the price! Alhamdulillah...rezeki baby :). Cot tuh pulak was priced at rm1200 (siap dgn changing station and a basinnet, thn bila besar ckit blh jadik katil) but we got it for rm700 ms 'Mother & baby expo' kat mid-v about 2 months ago.


Besides tht, i managed to buy a baby carrier tht i had always wanted...Moby Wrap. Mahal ckit la...but i know its gonna be so worth it. Fell in love with it ever since i saw a friend of mine posted her pic while using it to carry her baby. It will help to strengthen the bond between the baby and the parent...plus the position tht the baby is in, its more natural than the normal baby carrier. Milk bottle steamer and milk bottles utk simpan BM pun dh beli kat booth Fabulousmom.com masa expo arituh. Sgt murah :).


So now, just a left a few more brg2 baby yg besar2 (breast pump, bath tub etc) and the smaller stuff tuh maybe akan beli towards the end kot....like baju2, baby's toiletries, diapers etc. Ade lg more or less 3 months to edd. We're kind of excited about it. Alhamdulillah...hubby is always givng me a lot of support and he's very involved with all this baby stuff. Even now dia yg sibuk duk cr antenatal class and parental class for us to go to :). I couldn't have asked for a more perfect partner than him....i luv him so much :)

Plus Size Maternity

Huisshh....lama giler rsnye x mengupdate blog nih. A lot has happened in the past couple of months....the good ones and the bad ones. But alhamdulillah, at my worst....my husband, my family and my friends were always there to make sure tht i "stand tall".

Anyway, bck to the reason tht i started this blog. Ms mula2 tuh just nk share my experiences being a plus size lady in an Asian country...and getting married. Not a very good combination, i might say. For one, sgt la susahnye mencari bj plus size kat Malaysia nih....if ade pun, limited choices. Kalo kat cnih la, utk org2 yg plus size, u need to have 2 things....1)filthy RICH! Coz bj2 plus size kat cnih mahal nk mampos!....2)no taste in fashion whatsoever! Dh le mahal, lack in style and taste. Kalo yg murah lak, mmg x up to date lgsg. You would consider urself very fortunate if you can find anything th fits you but yet stylish *sigh*

Thn nk cr wedding dress pulak. Lg satu hal. But alhamdulillah, dpt jugak dicari :) and i'm quite happy to help some ladies to find their plus size wedding dresses thru my blog. Now comes the hard part.....PLUS SIZE MATERNITY clothes!

Sadly, there is not one shop/boutique in KL tht carries plus size maternity clothing. Mmg bj maternity tuh besar....but for normal size ppl la. Kita nih dh le extra-ordinary size kind of ppl...maner la nk muat. I have tried going to almost all shop/boutiques tht i know off tht carries maternity line but xde yg sesuai, esp tang sluar. It will always be senteng @ sendat....sgt x comfortable. Due to time constraints (and tummy yg membesar), i had to resort to smthg else. So for the time being....aku terpaksa la beli bj plus size yg biasa tht's about 2 sizes bigger thn my usual size :(. Blh la....dr xde bj langsung. But skrg nih tummy kecik lg, can't imagine wht should i wear bila dh 7-8 bulan nnt *sigh*

Finally, i might resort to buying plus size maternity clothing thru the websites in US. Mintak tlg my dear friend yg tgh study kat saner to deliver it to me kat cnih. But not yet la....tunggu pregancy masuk 5@6 mths, by thn i can predict how big i'll be in my full term. And its still damn cheap to get it thru tht way. Oh ya, did also mentioned tht maternity clothing here is insanely EXPENSIVE!! Huhu.....korang tgk la sndr.....