Confinement food :)

Our dinner last night. Who said confinement food have to be boring?

Bed time...

One behave baby.

Workstation. Different hotel. Different places.

Compilation of my workstation in different hotel, in different countries. 

In InterContinental Adelaide, Australia
I was surrounded with the great view outside. 

In Grand Hyatt, Singapore

I love the greenery outside. I love the fact that it is located at the corner and I can enjoy great views in front and at the side.

In Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong

They have fax machine in the room and complimentary internet connection. Love it. The overall design and the furnitures are very grand. I felt like a VIP :) The huge window is at the side of the working table. 

This is the view outside.

In Empire, Brunei

This was my sleepless trip. ever. I only slept for 1-2 hours at night everyday because I have a lot of work to complete and present it during breakfast the next morning. The work station is small but really cozy.

In Imperial Tokyo, Japan
They have fax machine in the room and they gave me complimentary internet connection for the whole stay. 

In InterContinental, Perth, Australia

They provide nesting tables. I could pull out another table underneath for more working space. Neat!

 The view is excellent!

In Sofitel, Melbourne, Australia
The working table is overlooking the building outside. Remind me of my Japan's hotel room.

The Kangaroo has arrived in Malaysia!

This Kangaroo :

Kangaroo Math Competition (KMC) is the world's largest mathematics contest, with participation from more than 6 million students from 49 countries in 2012 alone. The Kangaroo, also known as Le Kangourou in French, originated in France in the early 1980s, inspired by the success of a similar contest in Australia (hence, the contest is named after the famed Australian marsupial). The contest is organized by the Association Kangourou san Frontieres (AKSF), based in Paris. Malaysia joined AKSF as a member in 2012.

The KMC consists of one round of multiple choice question paper, which is given at the student's own school. This arrangement allows the maximum number of students to participate. There are no selection rounds or qualifying exam, there is only one paper to be taken by the participants. All participants in the world will write the same test simultaneously.

To learn more about the KMC Malaysia, please visit http://www.kangaroomath.com.my/

If you click on History of KMC, you will find this :

"..... Malaysia was unanimously elected to join the AKSF in 2012, at the annual AKSF meeting in Protaras Beach, Cyprus. Mr. Suhaimi Ramly was appointed as the country representative. Mr. Suhaimi is the coach for the national team to the International Mathematical Olympiad since 2007, and has been active with organizing many mathematics camps and competitions in the country...."

Suhaimi Ramly is my brother :)

and Nabil could answer most of the Grade 2 questions on the website :)

Why wait? REGISTER [your children / students] NOW! - Only the contact person should do the registration. Students (except those registering as individuals) should not register on their own.

Thanks for visiting us! Part 4

WE HAVE GUESTS!!!

Just now, my LOVELY ex-roommate, Azah or Achik, came to visit my family with her sister, Ima and her adorable 2yo nephew, Ahmad Faris. I HAVENT SEEN HER IN AGES!!!! I AM SO HAPPY!!!!

I was shocked to receive her call and I was even more surprised when she told me that she is in the neighbourhood. FIVE minutes later, she arrived!!!! Fortunately I have orange and chocolate cakes ready for visitors :) and of course, strawberry tea.

We talked and talked and talked. I missed her so much. We were room mates for a few years in IIUM so she knew me VERY WELL inside out. 

Achik met Nazmi. Practice makes perfect.

Achik trying her best to burp Nazmi after I fed him.

Achik is a camera-shy person. This was what I got when I tried to capture her lovely face. LOL. Actually when she was ready to be photographed, my camera ran out of the battery ;p

Thanks for the gifts! I love it so much!!!!! At last, a present for MOM :)

Hong Kong : Jashan Indian Restaurant

During my Japan - Hong Kong trip, we had our lunch at Jashan, the best Indian Restaurant in Hong Kong. 

The food were great! Enjoy the photos. I cant remember the name of the dishes except for ice-cream ;p

Adelaide : Butts please

Cute. Thoughtful.

Nazran's playground

Nazran really enjoy being in the kitchen. Especially at the white cabinet.

Nabil, the happiest big brother

Nabil begged me to express the milk because he wanted to feed baby Nazmi. You can see the pure happiness there although I manage to get only 2 oz in a short time. I have the feeling he want to do this more often afterwards.

Then he begged me to burp baby Nazmi. Pure joy when baby Nazmi burped after a few gentle pats at the back. (Nazmi was not colour coordinated because Nabil was too busy playing and Mama was not in the mood to look for matching attire ;p la la la. I just grabbed anything on the top of the drawer)

Boy he is really excited with anything to do with babies nowadays!

Thank you for visiting us! Part 3

Last week, baby Nazmi received a present from Haziq & Sarah. My adorable nephew & niece. And then, Afif, Athirah, Adilla & Ayuni (my adorable neighbours) came with their mom to visit baby Nazmi. They brought a present as well! Thank you very much. 

On Saturday, my SIL and her family came all the way from Seremban to visit us at my mum's since we usually overnight there during weekend. Thanks for the cute presents (on the right)! I love the blankets so much!

Moving In : Part 17 - Slipper / sandal organiser

We came across a few wooden pallets at an industrial area. We brought home some. I just cant stand looking at good things being wasted. One of them has been upcycled to be the base of our bulky TV (this entry). And this one.....

We upcycled it to be a slipper / sandal organiser. Nabil painted it white and Papa mounted it to the wall. We put a wooden plank on top for shoes. I love the fact that the size of the pallet is exactly the same as the piece of wall available next to the door, underneath the window.

More on our MOVING IN Adventures! Click here.

Thank you for visiting us! Part 2

Just now my husband's family, grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousin came to visit baby Nazmi. We bought some boiled corn and muffins. We made chocolate bread pudding and quesadilla. Served it with strawberry tea and freshly-squeezed lemonade.

Messy food prep at the dining hall :) They had their meal at the living room.

Boiled corn, chocolate bread pudding and quesadilla. The bread pudding is best eaten with the chocolate sauce. Unfortunately I ran out of the main ingredient to make the chocolate sauce, so I just served it plain :(  Not chocolatey enough. I have to make the chocolate sauce tomorrow!

It feels good to have guests coming. Thank you for visiting us!

Juices and food

In the morning, when I cant decide what fruit will go into the blender, whether it is green apple?  red apple? or orange? I usually blend all the fruits separately and I end up with 2 or 3 glasses of fruit juice. I dont strain them because I need the fibre.

I will only use the juicer in the evening. I like to sip the pure juice while relaxing in the evening. Juicer is really hard to clean - especially the strainer.

This was my lunch yesterday. Grilled lemon and ginger chicken with grilled potato. I sprinkle a bit of black pepper and paprika. Ate it with mustard. I cut the chicken breast into bite-size pieces because I have to eat it with only one hand (fork only), the other hand should be available in case I need to breastfeed. #strategy

I pair it with a glass of refreshing hand-squeeze lemonade.

naZZZZZZZZZZZZZmi

Fruit juices

Fruit supply for one week for mummy in confinement. Banana not included. That is Nazran's. He insisted to put in there. I dont eat banana.

I just love fresh fruit juice. I dont eat vegetable so I have to depend on fruits for fibre and other necessary vitamins. 

Confinement period = reading time!!!

What I love about my confinement period is... I have unbelievable amount of time to READ! yay!

Yes, I need to feed the baby, change his nappy, express the milk, but that didnt take me the whole day. I am blessed with easy to handle babies. They dont cry. They are not colicky. When they are awake, they just stare at the ceiling the whole time, acting like they are very excited to see the ceiling fan and the lighting fixtures.

I stay up all night reading so I didnt miss the two-hourly feeding. I also can just sit and read a book during the day, in between cooking and doing laundry. Yes, we are now back to our own house on the 10th day and I do the house chore myself. Slowly. I still wear bengkung, bertungku, watch what I eat, just like what women in confinement supposed to do. 

My brother lend me a few interesting books. I just started the first one but I left it at my mum's. I am now trying my best to finish the last book I bought at Big Bad Wolf Sale last time.

**I dont online much during confinement period. I prepared some blog entries and set it to auto-publish for the whole week. Two or three entries per day.

Birth story.

29 Jan 2013

I went to work as usual although I was dilating. My sister didnt allowed me to work but I NEED TO ATTEND A BAREFOOT LEADERSHIP CIRCLE 2.0's first meeting. I have to complete 25 sessions to be part of BLC 2.0. I went home and strongly feel that I have to clean the baby cot (this entry). 

30 Jan 2013

I was not feeling well. Went to see my doctor. She gave me an MC for two days. I started to develop a fever. It getting worse in the evening. My husband send the kids to my mum's so he can take a good care of me.

31 Jan 2013
I tried my best to go to work because I have to attend the 2nd Dale Carnegie Training session. I need to complete 4 sessions to be able to graduate from the training. But I cant get up at all.

Last breakfast before giving birth (this entry)
Last lunch before giving birth (this entry)

8.00pm - My mum called to check on me - she asked me to go to the hospital since my fever is getting worse.

9.00pm - Went to my mum's to check on the kids. Took some BP reading to rule out high blood pressure. I had a really terrible headache the whole day. My doctor sister asked my husband to bring me to the hospital ASAP. She was afraid I had an infection since I had dilated for nearly one week. She told me, if I happened to give birth during the day, please ask for epidural analgesia. I dont know why but when the expert asked you to do certain thing, just do it ;p

11.00pm - Went to Dewan Bersalin. My brother took care of my kids since my parent went to my relative's house nearby to prepare for an akad nikah ceremony tomorrow. My temperature is nearly 40 degrees Celsius. A few doctors came in and checked. I was observed for a few hours and I requested to go home since it was extremely uncomfortable being surrounded by other mommies in labour. 

1 Feb 2013

2.45am - Went back to my mum's. My parent just came back from the akad nikah prep. Clean up and prepare to sleep. I told my husband how I wish to be in labour today.

3.30am - Sudden sharp pain in my tummy. Woke up for 2-3 minutes. Continue to sleep.

4.00am - My water breaking. First experience with the water. With previous births, I only had bloody show. It was sort of leaking water instead of the more dramatic gush a la Hollywood movie.

4.30am - Arrive in Dewan Bersalin, again. Greet by all doctors and nurses because they just sent me home and I came back in less than 2 hours. Observed for a few hours. Temperature still high, between 38 - 39 degree Celsius. Doctor asked me whether I want a VBAC or C-sect. Of course I want a VBAC.

10.00am - To the labour room. Doctor decided for augmented labour or c-sect if the progress is too slow. The moment they put me on oxytocin drip, I know it is going to be an augmented labour. phew.

11.00am - Anaes came for epidural procedure. Unfortunately I didnt feel any difference with the epidural. The contraction is getting intense afterward, thanks to the oxytocin, but with Doa Nabi Yunus, it is Alhamdulillah, bearable. 

1.20pm - Doctor asked me if I am ready to push since I was already too weak. I keep dozing off in between contraction due to the drowsy effect of Piriton I took earlier. At 9cm, I begin to push.

1.41pm - Baby Nazmi was born. Easy one. Alhamdulillah. No episiotomy.

Jaundice, go away

Baby Nazmi is recovering well from jaundice after numbers of blood tests in the clinic and hospital. Alhamdulillah. 

From 221μmol/L to 236 μmol/L the next day. Breastfeeding every two hours manage to bring it down to 211 μmol/L. I look like a zombie for a week because I have to make sure he breastfeed on time (doesnt all moms with newborn look like a zombie for at least one month??). I didnt sleep at all. Jaundice baby tend to sleep the whole time. It was hard at the beginning. Anyway, it paid off. Yesterday the reading was 145 μmol/L. He is OK.

Brotherhood

Every night. 
Nabil and baby Nazmi.

When Papa wants to give baby Nazmi a bath, these are what Nabil prepare on the bed. He will colour coordinate the whole look - the onesie, bootie and mitten. Such a responsible and loving brother :)

It is official!

MUHAMMAD NAZMI SYAZWAN.

Teach them some responsibilities

This was happened when I went out with my mom - this entry.

My dad have to take care all the kids - 10yo Haziq, 8yo Nabil, 8yo Sarah and 5yo Nazran. I brought Nazreen along with me. Knowing how handful they could be, I assigned them to a specific task, just to get them excited. One person in-charge of security (no one should open the front door), one person in-charge on food (in case Nazran is hungry) and the other one is on cleanliness (clean up the mess after they play).

When we came back, I noticed there were some changes on the tasks. They have appointed Nazran to be the AJK 5 tahun AT FIRST. Then, after a while, when he couldnt stop talking (yes, he is very talkative), they appointed him to be the Ketua Membebel.

I am not sure what is the scope of work for Ketua Membebel but I know Nazran has done a very good job.

Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday to you.
Today is my husband's birthday. This is what the kids gave him as a present.

 This is my favourite quote from the book. So true. If you have SONS.