The City Girl

The Great Counsellor

2011-06-28T13:54:00.002+08:00

All my Christian life, I have always sung and learnt about Jesus being the Great Counsellor but not really sure how it works. My logical mind says that a counsellor should be one whom you can physically talk to and get a response from in order to feel some sort of comfort. But in recent weeks, in my busy-ness, tiredness and frustrations, I really felt the true reason why He is known, among many names, as the Great Counsellor. The peace and comfort that descended upon me when I pour out my thoughts to Him, cannot be compared to anything else and truly at that point and even now I just stand in awe of the Almighty One. Always there for me. Thank you Jesus for your love to me...

Alycia at 7mths

2011-05-10T12:56:00.003+08:00

Introducing Lycia at 7 mths...she sleeps well, drinks well, has two bottom teeth and moves fast...she is a blessed kid and pray she continues to grow well.

eighteen ten ten

2010-10-27T14:56:00.002+08:00

181010 is another change in my life and all in God's good timing. I have scheduled for C Sect in the morning at 10.30 a.m. with my gynae. It was supposed to be at 1.30 p.m. but as he was due to fly off to attend an overseas conference, he brought the op earlier so that he could make sure that I was ok before leaving...how sweet...:)

Anyhow that morning, and even that evening before, I just had this peaceful feeling that it is indeed the right time for Alycia to come into the world. On the way to the hospital, traffic was smooth, it was raining lightly and lo and behold there were two rainbows in the sky. It was such a beautiful sight and I just felt peace. Had a good chit chat with John in the car and arrived at the hospital in good time. The nurse at the post natal ward said that I came just at the right time as there was only one single room left , the rest all fully taken up. When I told my bro abt the two rainbows he very nicely put it as Arielle and Aaron welcoming the little sister into the world.

I had all the medical pre-op steps in my mind that I had to go through before the actual op, all of which I did not like, so mentally I was occupied with slashing off the steps that I have completed, bringing me closer to the last chapter of child birth in my diary. At 10.30 a.m. I was wheeled into OT. Got my epidural jab and then heard my gynae's voice asking impatiently.."where is the midwife? why do I always have to wait for them?" Waited for about 10 mins for the midwife to come. I was getting impatient as well as I wanted it to get it all over and done with. Finally the mid wife came and I think we started at abt 10.45 a.m.

This time I was kind of amused at how my gynae was using my body organs to test a trainee nurse like asking her "what is this muscle called", "what brings blood to this organ" etc...I remember thinking..."ahyoh, using my insides to conduct an anatomy lesson"...oh well I think if I was the trainee nurse, I would have given up the job from the way my gynae was sarcastic at her wrong answers. Well he had a pt...surgical procedures are rather critical and having trainees around should be a no no. Anyhow, after 15 mins or so, he pulled Alycia out after a "tug of war" session with my body at 11.09 a.m...hearing her cry was such a sweet sound in my ears and seeing her after that just melted my heart. The anaesthetic told me..she has such nice lips and mouth. Such a bessing! My gynae kept rassuring me after that that I was doing well and that it was almost over. At abt 11.45 a.m. I was wheeled out of OT and stayed in the landing area for an hour in case of any complications. All went well and at about 1 p.m. was wheeled back into my room , reunited with John.

Glad that its all over and now to raise her well in God's awesome blessing. Pray that in her first year of life she will be in good health and thereafter.

The Firsts

2010-08-18T10:41:00.004+08:00

I have never had any nose bleeds before but during this pregnancy so far, I have had 4 nose bleeds..and I was not rubbing that hard as I normally do. I do have an itchy nose on and off and I do rub really hard usually to settle the itchiness once and for all but these few times I don't think I rubbed that hard. Three times while brushing my teeth and the 4th this morning as I was about to go to work. The bleeds don't last long...after blowing a few times and wiping off, they just stop. But my thoughts do go wild...do I have cancer of the nose...what will happen to my kids especially my Arielle who is so attached to me....then I feel kind of sad. Jon has asked me to see the Doc but I don't think I want to in case its serious. Just want to have my baby first and then see how. I searched the net and noted that some pregnant women do get nose bleeds very often due to the increased blood flow in their bodies. So I will just put it down to that although this is the first such experience. Will maybe highlight to my gynae this week when I see him.

Another first is a bad flu and cough. I have never really have it bad and never really seen a dr. for a few days of running nose and cough but the last 3 weeks..I have had a bad flu, went to see my GP, took some medication, forgot to inform my gynae during the last visit and down with a bad cough and phelgm now. Took the med given by my GP last time as I did not complete the course in case it affects my babe even though I was told its pregnancy safe. Oh well ...I just pray my babe is alright.

Wanna just have my baby safe and sound, healthy and normal, and it's a long way to go....2 more mths!

Jie Jie

2010-08-03T10:47:00.002+08:00

Arielle is becoming a great jie jie. Can really see that she is protective over Aaron and loves him so. When someone wants to carry him away, she will start to cry. She gets upset when he does not sit in his chair strapped with the seatbelt. When he climbs out, she scolds him. When I get panicky during the journey with Aaron loose, she will scream and ask me to "leave him, leave him" cos I will be pulling him to hold him in place. When I scold him for disturbing jie jie, at times she will say "never mind, leave him". She must have ti ti at home at night. Cannot leave him at po po's house. When we are at the supermarket and I threaten to leave him there she will pull and push him towards me and then ask me to "take him la ma". Its really cute to see them as Aaron adoringly calls "jie jie".."jie jie".

You are 2!

2010-07-30T09:41:00.003+08:00

How time flies, Aaron is 2 today. What a journey he has been through with meningitis at 6 weeks, hands, foot and mouth at 6 months, bronchitis at 9 months and fever on and off, here and there. Now at 2, he is growing to be a tall "young man" though getting increasingly stubborn with a mind of his own. And all this while Thank God that He has led Aaron through every step. Aaron is God's blessing to us and he brings joy to the Gohs and Wees every hour of the day. His che che adores him though at time he infuriates her. Oh well...now to give him some form of toilet training of which I have been guilty of not doing yet....

Aaron, May God continue to bless you with wisdom, strength and stature. May good people always come your way and May you be a blessing to others always. and in whatever you do May you have God in mind. Amen.

26 weeks

2010-07-26T10:07:00.003+08:00

26 weeks and still counting down. Time seems to go by so slowly..I just want to get the delivery over and done with. I guess I am just fearful of the experience, especially the pain. I have a low pain tolerance you see. I also cannot wait to see my babe. Am filled with so much joy with my current two and I pray for wellness for the upcoming one. Though the first year will be filled with lots of ups and downs, I hope that as a family and with God's strength and faithfulness, we will be able to cope well.

Arielle will be 4 towards the year end and Aaron will turn 2 at the end of this week. Arielle is getting mature by the day but Aaron is getting more mischevious. With another "A" coming, I really wonder how life will be like? Well I'll cross the bridge when I reach it. In the meantime don't think about it and take one step at the time.

4 years and many more

2009-06-04T14:06:00.003+08:00

Got married to my kampung boy 4 years ago today. Had a wedding of my dreams - a garden poolside wedding.

4 years on - we have 2 kids and a very hectic life. But God has been good to us and we thank Him for that. I wonder what it would it be like six years from now - on our tenth annivesary.

15 May 2009

2009-06-03T17:53:00.004+08:00

We celebrated John's birthday at home with a krispy kreme doughnut cake. Arielle enjoyed the blowing of candles and cutting of the cake the most.

Never Knew

2009-03-10T13:33:00.002+08:00

I never knew I can shout so loud until kids came along. I used to kesian my neighbour's kids as always get shouted at but now I understand. I feel its actually not good for them, they get frightened but sometimes can't really help it. I tried not to shout for few weeks already but was back again last weekend. Arielle is getting really really naughty and cheeky. Don't want to eat, don't want to take medication, want this, want that, don't want this, don't want that..sigh. I told myself a few weeks ago that I will try reasoning with her instead of shouting...as mentioned, only lasted for a few weeks. When I shout and I see her tiny body jump, I really feel sorry for her.

I will try again my utmost best not to shout but to reason properly. See how long I can last. :(

Saturdays

2009-03-06T13:25:00.003+08:00

Ah i dun look forward to Saturdays. Its my most busiest day of the week. My day starts at about 6 a.m. with expressing milk, putting the clothes to wash, sweeping and mopping downstairs, preparing for lunch, then taking Arielle to musickarten class, grocery shopping, cooking lunch, bathing the kids,putting them to sleep, cleaning upstairs, preparing for dinner and if got time in between,do some accounting work or ironing. If at night got stuff on I'll feel more stress trying to get all the things done. If Jon needs to work even more stress have to jaga two..cannot do any thing. But at the end of the day, I feel a great sense of satisfaction.

Flood Waters

2009-02-24T14:13:00.015+08:00

The weather was terrible in Marudi. When it rains it just pours. The few days before our return to KL, it rained continuously. I was a bit worried as we had to take the small flight out to Miri International Airport. Flood waters kept rising and at the time when we were leaving, Jon’s brother took out the boat in case, vehicles and the chooks were moved to higher ground, as the water level reached the tip of the driveway.

From the balcony

From the tip of the driveway

Jon's mum trying to salvage some wood

Jon, Arielle, and Hui Hui, Jon's niece
on the boat parked at the side of the driveway

Flooded chicken coop

The drowning beans

When we arrived home, updates from Marudi revealed that the water level continued to rise until Jon's house living room. They had made preparations by propping up all the furniture by 1 feet. Thank God the rain did finally stop and the water started to subside within a week. I was worried the water was going to destroy MIL's noodle machines but all turned out well. Now I know how much havoc flooding can cause.

Homegrown

2009-02-19T13:37:00.012+08:00

Jon’s mum is one very tough entrepreneur and that’s probably where Jon inherited his entrepreneurial instincts. She runs her own noodle business, rears chooks and vegetables for sale as well as for own consumption. Here are some pics of her produce. Her kampong chooks are really tasty though the meat can be quite tough.

Petola

Some kind of melon for soup

yummy chooks

Long Beans

French Beans

Delicacies

2009-02-16T17:37:00.000+08:00

Each year there would be something strange to eat when we are back at Marudi. Last year we had barbequed wild boar on arrival. It was tough but quite yummy with chilli of course. Arielle had frog porridge. My MIL put it in her porridge so that she can move fast. She sure can…she runs not walk!

This year on arrival we had turtle soup for dinner and a few days later had wild bats cooked with ginger and black sauce. Yucks eh? Jon’s brother hunts and shot a couple of wild bats. Tasted like mutton but the thought of eating the furry creatures just irks me so I did not touch the dish much. Here is a pic of the bat dish..din take the turtle one..

Mama's Fault

2009-02-12T13:26:00.001+08:00

Babies are helpless and they totally rely on parents to do things for them. What we decide to do have huge impact on them. They are practically at our mercy.

Aaron has recently turned 6 mths and so I thot it was time for him to start his infant cereal. Since he was sick when we came back fr Marudi, I gave him one week break and decided to start him on Monday 9/2/09. He seemed to be enjoying it. Gave him a bath after an hour and then decided to put him to sleep with 5 oz of EBM. He finished his EBM and I left him in his room to give Arielle a bath. When I finished with Arielle I heard him crying and found that he has vomited all over the mattress and his head had some of it when he rolled over it. I thot it was one of those things. I started to clean up but then he vomited again. Over the 2 hour period, he vomited non-stop and it was real pain to see his body go into spasm before each vomit. Jon & I took turns to call each other for help each time it happened. The final spasm came with nothing coming out, so we knew his stomach has been emptied. He was so tired after that I just held him in my arms and he slept.

After that he drank ok..next day, he started to have green stuff coming out of his eyes and my mum then informed that he started a bit of diarrhea. After work, took him to the dr’s straight. His throat was red and that probably caused the nasal track to be infected. After some probiotics and eye drops he seems to be better.

I really do not know what happened there. I shld hv listened to my mum, i.e. not to rush hin into cereal since he was recovering from HFM. Maybe he was allergic to the cereal with milk as all this time he has been on breast milk. Hmm..but when he was 1 mth he was fed formula milk also. Maybe he was overfed. Too much starchy cereal and then EBM. My mum seems to think I overfed him. What do you think?

All these stuff happening to Aaron just dampens my mood. He is such a cutie and I put him thru such an episode. Sorry Aaron, mama’s fault.

On a happier note..he can now sit up, crawl and is very inquisitive. I must say he is really a cute baby.

CNY 2009

2009-02-11T13:35:00.002+08:00

CNY this year was far from expectations and very hectic.

We took the 7 am flight from KL to Miri on 24 Jan and only started packing late the night before. I wanted packing this year to be different i.e. to pack way in advance but was busy every night. The Wee family got together and had our reunion on 22 Jan and on 23 Jan night, my brothers wanted to see the kids again, so stayed at my parents’ house till late. As usual Jon was working late..its always like that when we are off somewhere the next day. So in the end, only took out the suitcase at 11.30 pm. We hardly slept. By the time we got to bed was 2 am and Jon’s friend came at 4.30 am. I only got ready by 5 am. So stressful! Well I din know that more stress to come.

Arrived at Marudi about 3 pm. Felt very unsettled with the kids. The weather was terrible, worst than before, so hot and humid on one hand and rainy in the next. Mosquitoes were huge and I had at least 15 bites on the first nite. Was worried more for the kids. I hung around them so that the mossies will attack me instead of them as my blood is the sweetest and prone to all such bites. I was really irritable and poor Jon got the brunt of most of it but I guess he patiently ‘tahan’ me.

Our little Aaron then had fever on 4th day of new year. Took him to the government hospital and got some fever medication. At 3 – 4 am that nite, we found rashes all over his front part of the body. Took him to the hospital again in the morning. The initial diagnosis by a nurse was measles. The doctor’s assistant said no..its an allergy. It was a relief to hear that. It cannot be anything so serious as normally fever will continue up to 2 – 3 days. The rash was almost immediate. Then blisters started appearing on his little toes at night..wah panic and I was suspecting hands, foot & mouth disease already. Searched the net and the signs matched, blisters appearing after 1 day of fever. He refused to drink and was unsettled. Jon & I took turns at nite to comfort him. Each waking hour was a crying one. Sat morning back to the hospital again..the episode at the hospital require another write up…Arielle developed fever on Friday nite. By now I really could not wait to go home. My mission was to just keep their fever down. Booked an appointment with SJMC for Monday morn.

Touched down at 7 pm on Sunday, 1 Feb, reached home before 8 pm to a clean house. Mum mopped the house and Dad fried mee hoon for our dinner. Thanks ma & pa! Home Sweet Home!

Monday morning – confirmed Hands, Foot & Mouth Disease – the Sarawak strain – and both quarantined for a wk! Thank God not the serious strain. But got it fr my parents who told me earlier not to bring him back. Sigh!

Breastfeeding

2009-01-16T18:00:00.001+08:00

Breastfeeding is not an easy task especially during the initial stages. At least, during the first two weeks, new mothers will experience sore nipples when babies suckle as hard as possible for milk when there is none. Backaches and sore necks are also common if not seated correctly during breastfeeding. It is a dream of every mum to breast feed at least during the first 6 months.

Well it was my dream before I had my first kid. However, I was really really disappointed as Arielle din want to suckle at all. She was in fact terrified of the breast. Each time I tried she would scream her head off as if the whole world was crashing on her. I was still determined to give her breast milk so I pumped as hard as I could. Lasted for 8 months as I changed job and my new office did not have a convenient place to pump and to store milk. Well was relieved that it was over although I would ideally wanted it to last for a year. Arielle was however really small size, probably because I din have enough milk then. Poor girl.

This time with Aaron, God has blessed me with heaps of milk. Though I could train him to direct breastfeed, I opted to express the milk for him. In that way, other people can help me feed him. I started expressing 6 times a day but now have cut down to 5 and slowly to 4 times. Nowadays, I really cannot wake up in the middle of the night to do my motherly duty. Too tired! Each session currently I can get at least 6-8 oz compared to Arielle’s time when I was expressing only 2-4 oz. I hope to go on until Aaron is one year but I dun thk I can tahan. May train him to direct feed when he is 6 mths or so. Arielle managed when she was 6 mths. I have stock now to last for at least 3 months if I continue to express. Pic of my freezer. I have one more pack at my mum's and one more at my brother-in-law.

Heart of Gold

2009-01-14T13:59:00.002+08:00

Jon always tells me that we should help people who needs it whenever we can and not expect anything in return. In that way we would be happy helping people. He also has this philosophy..if people dun like the way you are, then its their loss, so why be upset. I always knew Jon has a very good heart and he is a nice fellow but what he did for my mum really touched me.

Few days ago my mum's TV broke down and so she asked my aunt to give her an old TV. Jon collected and fixed it up for her. He noted that that TV was also not in good condition and felt that it will break down anytime. He told me that he wants to get for her a flat screen TV. I was surprised. Mum previously could not see eye to eye with Jon when we were staying together. That was on Friday last week when he made the suggestion. As of yesterday mum now has a new 37 " flat screen TV given to her by her son-in-law.

Truly Jon has a heart of gold. Eversince marrying this kampung boy of mine, I have been more positive towards life.

Thank you very much dear for your deed.

Start of 2009

2009-01-13T16:18:00.005+08:00

Decided to bake a butter cake at 11 p.m. on 31 Dec 2008 as I had bought the ingredients for about a week already and since 1 Jan 2009 was a holiday. Set the cake to bake in the oven about 10 mins before midnight. After watching the fireworks on TV, checked on my cake and noted the grease proof paper hanging out of the cake tin was getting burnt. I then adjusted the position of the tin so that the paper will not brush against the heating element at the back of the oven when it rotates. Made it even worse and the paper caught fire. Panic panic! I was afraid the whole oven would blow so I quickly switched of the mains and started blowing but the small fire still could not be put out. I screamed to John for help. He was upstairs attending to the kids. He came down and started to blow as well..I din want to douse it with water as I din want my cake to go to waste. Thank God, John managed to blow it out. His comment.."people play fireworks, you also want to play!". The fire damaged the paper and the tin slightly but I continued to bake the cake. The result...

But it is quite yummy I must say especially with the burnt parts and the "kah leow" (ashes). Got the recipe fr lillian.net I think.

Not looking forward to

2009-01-11T16:31:00.003+08:00

There are two things which I am not looking forward to in 2009 - going back to Marudi for the Chinese New Year, and Arielle going to School.

Going back is so inconvenient, especially I am still feeding Aaron expressed breast milk (EBM). No convenient place to wash my pump and the bottles - there is only one small sink in the house which is in the kitchen. Warming up the milk is a hassle as no constant supply of really hot water - water normally boiled once a day and stored in flask - to warm up the milk. Transporting my frozen EBM back is a challenge bearing in mind it takes about 6 hours to get back including transit time. I think I will source for dry ice and pack it tight. I have to bring back some as I am afraid the milk I pump there and then is insufficient. Furthermore, I hope immigration will not confisicate my stock thinking those small frozen white packs are drugs and are being smuggled. Then I have to plan my pumping times during the journey...Sigh..I'll get a headache each time I think of all these issues. Feel like just staying at home but what to do...married to my kampung boy...

Thinking of sending Arielle to school in June 2009 and really not looking forward to it. Can't bear to see her crying her heart out being left with strangers and cannot bear leaving her at a public place even for half a day. But what to do, she has to go thru it as prt of life and trust God to take care of her all the way.

But 2009 will be a great year otherwise...Aaron will be 1 and he will start talking and walking. I cannot wait! plus many more good things to come. I don't know what but I am sure they will come. :)

Christmas with Living Fountain

2008-12-31T10:13:00.025+08:00

This blog is overdue, so i thought I'd better complete it before the year ends...

This year Living Fountain had an early Christmas Celebration on Sunday, 14 Dec 2008, at simon & wy’s place as it was the only date that everyone could make. We had a good time of fun & fellowship as some of us have not met up for some time. Getting the kids together and listening to them talking, screaming, laughing, crying, fighting etc. was just music to my ears. The food was good (oops forgot to take a pic) especially the satay, one of my fav food, which I have not eaten for ages.

One thing I found out is that Arielle has a fear of balloons. I knew she was afraid but I did not know that it was that bad. That night she was crying and screaming whenever she saw a balloon even though it was a distance away from her. She probably developed it when one balloon burst right in front of her when we were decorating the house for her first birthday party last year. Wah…difficult la to attend kids’ parties in the future. I searched the net and found that such a phobia is called globophobia. Even an adult can have that. I hope this is a phase and that it will go off as she grows.

Some pics of the kids, our next generation….

Christopher with his finger lickin' good milo bar

Cynthia with mummy Mei Yan

Isaac with Daddy Sin Loong

The Yoong girls doing their special performance

Zoe doing her masak masak

Arielle & Zoe , trying to be part of the che ches performance

Aaron trying to snooze in the midst of all that

Let’s have another!! Yam Sem (Yum Seng) as Arielle put it.

Relaxed & Playful Aaron

2008-12-14T16:58:00.006+08:00

Aaron loves to turn and stay on his tummy nowadays. Like Arielle before, he is sleeping less in the day time as it seems he wants to "kay poh" around...

Hungry Aaron

2008-12-14T16:51:00.004+08:00

Arielle used to suck her toes as well....

Our Christmas Tree

2008-12-14T12:46:00.006+08:00

We finally have a Christmas Tree! Bought it at 80% off from Metro after last year's Christmas and carried all the way from Bukit Bintang Plaza back to Times Square. I was 3 months preggy then with Aaron. The decor was also purchased last year at up to 80% off as well. So after sitting in the store for almost a year, it is finally out. Asked Jon to fix it in mid november already for fear I forget about it and then will have to wait for the next Christmas..hee hee.

The theme colour is gold..will try to add on more colour next year

Lighted up

Not as nice as this one at IOI Mall though...

Berjaya University College of Hospitality

2008-12-14T11:18:00.004+08:00

That's where I have been working since 1 August 2007. Berjaya University College of Hospitality (Berjaya UC) will open its doors to a new intake on 7 Jan 2009. It is the only University College speacialising in Hospitality, Culinary and Tourism. The team has been and will be busy this month as it is the recruitment period and we hope to recruit 200 students by January 2009. That explains why I am working today. My staff worked yesterday, so today is my turn. I miss my kids when I work weekends.

Anyway, back to Berjaya UC. The UC is located on the 11th and 14th flr of Berjaya Times Square. The 11th flr houses the corporate office, classrooms, auditorium, and computer labs while the culinary kitchens and the training restaurant is located on the 14th flr. The facilities offered is really state of the art and my boss will not settle for anything less. My boss, a trained chef, with 20 yrs of experience (10 yrs KDU & 10 yrs Sunway), is a very detailed person and knows what she wants to bring Berjaya UC to great heights. Log on to http://www.berjaya.edu.my/ to find out more about us.

Campus Lobby

Happy Birthday Sweetie

2008-12-04T13:58:00.013+08:00

Arielle turned 2 on 29 Nov. We organised 2 parties for her - one at the home of her foster family @ babysitter and the other one with us. She really enjoyed herself and kept on singing happy birthday to herself.

Arielle's first birthday cake

Arielle's foster family on 28th Nov

Arielle with her 2nd birthday cake on the morning of 29th Nov

Birthday Feast

Gorgeous smile

Happy birthday Arielle. We thank God for you and love you very very much!

Complete Turn

2008-11-27T14:56:00.006+08:00

Aaron has finally managed to turn and lie on his stomach yesterday after a week of half turns. No more bouncer net for him..have to vigilantly keep watch now...

Aaron having a good time with che che

Push & Beat

2008-11-25T15:31:00.003+08:00

Arielle's favourite word now is "push". She keeps wanting to push other kids...whether she is at music class or at sunday school. Sometimes the other kid cries sometimes not. She knows its wrong cos she would say "push .....(the other kid's name)" and when I said cannot she would say "after ..... cry , how?" but still does it. Sigh. I had a discussion with Jon re this issue and he said it started after she was pushed by a koko (bigger kid) at Tesco and she fell down. So I guess this is her way of self defence - pushing other kids before they get to her.

She also developed a habit of beating other kids. She probably learned from us cos we would beat her fingers on and off when she is naughty. I spoke to a few parents and they say the same. So, we have stopped smacking her ..improved slightly..last weekend no beating other kids.

I wonder why she does that and hope that she does not grow up to be a bully. Surprisingly at babysitter's place, she neither push nor beat. Well, I hope it is phase which will phase out soon.

Quick Updates on Arielle & Aaron

2008-11-24T11:58:00.007+08:00

Arielle is turning two this Saturday and growing cheeky by the day. She is learning more and more words trying to imitate when people around her talks. Its such a joy to be with her. Well as what her babysitter said, she is very good in talking but come to "she she"...dunno how to say yet...Sigh!..At least can say "ng ng" la. Saw her sitting on her milk tin and decided to take some pics..good ad for "Enfagrow A+" eh?

Aaron is 3 and the half months and is growing stronger by the day. He is starting to turn and very curious re his surroundings. He has started to sleep longer hours at night...Thank God that he has been in good health since he was discharged. His V shape birthmark on his forehead is his trademark.

Between last post and Now

2008-09-27T15:30:00.004+08:00

Time flies and I'll be back to work on Monday...

Between my last post and now...

1) We had a full moon party for Aaron at our house on 30th August 2008. Although many people whom we invited could not make it because of the long weekend, many did turn up and both Jon and I was overwhelmed with trying to talk to many as possible especially old and good friends which we have not seen for ages. The food which we catered was however a bit disappointing. The portions were not as expected and the quality was not as good as what I have tried. Feedbacks given were not so good..so was rather sad. Not many photos were taken cos we were too busy. WY as usual being helpful did help us to take some photos.

2) The following weekend on Sunday, 7th Sept 2008, we had Aaron's baby dedication at church conducted by Pastor Swee Tsung and thereafter celebrated his full moon with church members during refreshment time with red eggs and ang kuh kuih. During that time, Gracia, Kok Ming & Yit Sean's daughter also had her one-year old birthday celebration. The cake which they oredered from Cake Sense was really yummy.

3) On 10th Sept 2008 evening, Jon felt that Aaron's body was really warm and his body posture was weird. I didn't think any of it but when I measured his temperature using my all reliable crystallised thermometer, his temp fluctuated between 37.5 and 38.5 degrees C. I was worried and did some sponging on his forehead and put him to sleep with the Kool Fever Pad. He was groaning and groaning most of the night but I thought he was just hungry, so I asked him to go and sleep but he could not. At 4 a.m. when he cried, I tried to give him milk but his whole body stiffened and his eye balls just rolled to the middle. I somehow knew he was having some sort of fits. I quickly woke Jon up and rushed to the SJMC Emergency Room. We took Arielle with us. The Dr on duty said that it was unlikely for a baby below 3 mths old to hv such a high fever and said we have to admit him. They called Aaron's paed and took some bllod from him for blood tests. All sorts of tests were carried out and finally he was diagnosed with having Meningitis. Dr said that he probably caught the flu virus from someone. Sigh...so my mum was right..never expose the little one to so many people. For Arielle, we were staying with my parents, so she was protected most of the time. Jon & I was really worried. First 4 days his temperature fluctuated between 38.5 and 39.5 degrees C. We had many visitors and calls and prayers. Thank you very much to all. His fever came down after that but had to stay on till Sunday , 21st Sept 2008 for the anti biotic treatment. I stayed with him the whole week while Jon took care of Arielle. Thank God for his strength and healing.

4) On the morning of 20th Sept 2008, my babysitter who had earlier agreed to take care of Arielle sent me a text message and said she could no longer babysit my kids. I called her and she explained that her health is not so good nowadays and has decided to reduce the no. of children under her care. Further more, Aaron is not well and she cannot give full attention to him. She has another baby abt Aaron's age under her care also who is not so well. So she said that I shld find someone that can tk cr of both my kids so that the siblings are together. She said she will help me look for one and I agreed. I was really depressed as she is a good lady and committed to the kids. I discussed the matter with Jon and he asked me to negotiate for her to con't to tk cr of Arielle as she will not get used to another, and we will find Aaron another. So in the end, my mom offered to tk cr of Aaron and Arielle will go back to her babysitter. Thank God for my mum who is so ever willing to lend a helping hand when it comes to her granchildren.

I don't think I am emotionally ready to go back to work - still tired and recovering from the past month of emotional events. But I have to toughen myself and start getting myself into a routine again.

Thank you to all my caring cell group members and friends who have helped the Gohs in one way or another esp WY who has done much more beyond my imagination.

Sleepless nights

2008-09-03T19:50:00.003+08:00

Eversince my cofinement lady (aunty) left, Aaron has not been sleeping well at night. Last 3 nights have been the same routine for him. He falls asleep in his cot and just when I am about to sleep, he cries for milk. I breast feed him directly but seems like its not enough for him. He then continues to cry or be agitated until about 3 to 4 a.m.. It may be the wind in his tummy during that period of time as after the 3 a.m. feed, he will poo poo, burp and then sleep. Maybe he misses aunty as at the time when aunty went home, he had already stop poo pooing at night, now he is back to it again - at least twice a night. Well am going to try a different method this time. Will feed him breast milk via the bottle so I know how much he drinks, so he cannot claim that he is still hungry, then see how. Also, I must remember to feed him wind drops.

Well, nowadays I really fear when bed time comes. Dunno what to expect. Pray that Aaron's sleeping patterns will stabilise soon.

Mum

2008-08-20T17:52:00.003+08:00

Well, I wanted to write this post for quite sometime already but have been distracted with so many other topics.

I am not close to Mum and many times throughout my life I have had clashes with her. She longs to be close to her only daughter but certain things that she does and say just dun agree with my principles. However, ever since I moved out from the family home, our relationship has improved. She really has a good heart and does things for the good of her children. I guess her past history has shaped what her views are today. She comes from a family of 13 children and most of her life she has been bullied by one sibling or the other as she is the only one that is not really studious. During the younger days, since she was a housewife, her sisters who stayed around the Klang Valley, left their kids to her during working hours. She has been really generous to her nieces and nephews and always do things for their own good although she gets no returns. I don't know, but I have always had this thought that maybe that's why our family has been poor all this while, supporting others , besides the amount spent on educating us in Singapore and besides being cheated by a sister. When she took care of her Dad when he was ill, all siblings accused her of all sorts of stuff. Its really not easy taking care of an elderly person who is sick, yet she was not appreciated and led to all sorts of accusations. All these has led her to be insecure in her life. I was a guilty party of not supporting my mum during that time but I really admired my ko who supported her all the way against all the uncles and aunties.

Even at this age of 62 now, she is still enthusiastic about learning new things, buying heaps of books and CDs to improve her knowledge. I must admit that she gives good advice and I have come to respect my mum of who she is and I will try my best to improve further our relationship before its too late.

I am extremely thankful that she is able to take care of Arielle for us during the weekends. It is really such a great favour and even now she takes such pleasure in cooking and feeding Arielle, making sure Arielle gets the best nutrition base on books that she has read. Together with babysitter caring for my little angel, she has grown taller and bigger.

Missing Arielle

2008-08-16T21:45:00.002+08:00

The first night at the hospital, I had to let Arielle spend the night with her babysitter (first night ever she slept away from home) as Jon spent the night with me. She was ok apparently. But I was told that the next day her mood just changed. She refused to eat, refused to sleep and so on. So that the second night, Jon decided to bring her home. When Jon told me, tears just weld up in my eyes...my poor little girl. She was over the moon when Jon went to pick her up. She could not wait. Jon was told that every few minutes she would be going to the gate to check if Pa Pa had arrived.

I am missing spending time with Arielle the most during confinement. I miss being with Jon and her on our weekend nights out. I miss holding one side of her hand and her look as she looks up to both of us with a sweet smile telling us that she is enjoying her night out. I miss carrying her whenever she said "pau pau" as I can't carry her right now until my wound is fully recovered. I hope she understands that and not think that I do not want to carry her anymore. I miss being with her at Sunday School and Musikgarten class but its also good time for Jon to spend much more time with his daughter. I have got two more weeks to the end of confinement and I pray I will be totally recoverd by then to spend time with her. But then I have Aaron to care for so I am not sure how my routine will be. Oh well, take one step at the time and leave the rest to God.

Search for a Confinement Lady

2008-08-14T14:14:00.006+08:00

This time round we decided to get a confinement lady (CL) as my parents find it really tiring to do it all over again and we have Arielle to take care of. We already decided this in January but me being last minute only decided to act on booking one only in May, 2 mths to delivery, which is already quite late. I did search the Internet though and did obtain certain contacts from various forums and blogs. A friend of mine who had her son in February did forward me a list of CLs, also from the net. But I did not get round to calling them. I wanted an English speaking one and based on the names I gathered that none of them could speak English. Furthermore I was advised not to get someone of which I could not have references for. So I procrastinated. PN gave me an English speaking contact but when I called, she was already taken. Then I remembered, one of Jon's ex-ex housemate telling me that she was going to stay in a confinement house in Puchong which also do provide CLs. I called her, asked for her opinion and also contact of the confinement house. Its Fong Chai Confinement Services at Puchong Jaya. Its owned by an elderly lady by the name of Mrs Wu, who do not know English but her daughter, Jeslyn, can communicate in English. Jon & I dropped by the place, met the owners, and a few days later decided to put in the RM500 deposit for a CL. Our condition was..try as hard as possible to get an English speaking one though haed to come by. What was good abt this was, if we are not happy, they can send in a replacement. Apparently I was also not able to meet the allocated CL before hand as she was on other engagements. So all I could do was pray for a good one.

God answers prayers! My allocated CL can speak English and she is pretty good especially in cooking and taking care of the precious little one. She is Aunty Cheong. She has been in this line for 4 years already and being a CL is a calling from God. She is a Christian and she shared with me that she was a cook before in a household but she wanted to give up the job as she found it difficult to serve the various needs of the membrs in the household. She prayed about it and twice in a 6-mth period she saw the words of "cho pooi yee" (be a confinement lady) and since then she started to be one. She helps to clean and wash the clothes daily and is efficient in preparation of meals. She cooks heaps of food so much so I have no chance to feel hungry. In fact I am stuffed all the time and I am supposed to be loosing weight! She also takes care of the little one really well - bathe him twice a day, changes his diapers regularly etc. She also prays a lot so its good.

However, there are certain downsides to having a CL - all my standard operating procedures of running my kitchen has been breached but I have to close one eye lor. No 2 cooks can survive in one kitchen. So this month its my CL's kitchen and next mth I will have it back. Like washing the oily dishes...I normally wash at the kitchen sink at the back but she washes in the sink of the dry kitchen, the back grill...I like to keep it closed but she likes to keep it open for convenience as she goes in & out very often. I dun want to tell her as I want her to be comfortable working here. If I told her I know she will follow. Anyhow, she is doing a good job with baby and that is the most important thing. This month is truly a "holiday" month...lots of relaxation and good food!

It is not easy to be a confinement lady - need to cook, take care of baby and the mummy especially if you dun have a good night's rest.

My Gynae

2008-08-13T14:53:00.005+08:00

I was introduced to my gynae about 2 years ago by WY who was introduced to him by an ex-cell group member. Before I even met him I have heard stories about how strict he is, both in terms of looks and dealing with patients. I was told not to ask any silly questions. I was also told that he prefers planned deliveries instead of the non-planned ones, so that would mean induced delivery or the pre-booked C-Section.

My first appointment with him was actually to do the normal check up to see if I should take any precaution if I were to get pregnant. My first impression of him was just as what I was told. Strict and not so friendly, "get the job done" type kind of person. I was, however, intrigued by him and continued with him when I was pregnant with Arielle. Moreover, his clinic was rather convenient and I could go for my appointments on Saturdays without causing disruption to my work schedule. I did ask him questions about the pregnancy and he did answer willingly although his smiles were hard to come by.

WIth Arielle, at 39 weeks, he suggested an induced labour as he said that my water level was low and that was a danger to the baby. I did ask him if I could wait till the EDD before going for the induced labour but he expressed concern for the baby, so, Jon and I say ok. So maybe I thought he wanted my delivery to be a confirmed date and did not really know the seriousness of a the water level being low until I read recently in a magazine that, that was one of the reasons for induced delivery. As in my previous post on Arielle's birth, I was induced on the first day from 7 to 12 p.m. but still could not dialate , so I heard my gynae scheduling me for a C sect already on that day. I then requested to give another chance for natural labour and surprisingly, he did allow me to try again the next day, but with a wry smile which sort of read that no matter what I may still have to go for the Op. But when I could not take the pain after the burst of the water bag and when he found that baby already poo poo in the womb, the next day, he wheeled me in for the C. During Arielle's time, when I went back for a postnatal check up and he found that my feet were swelling, his face showed genuine concern and told me there was a possibility of blood clot and asked me to go back and lift my feet up. All went well after. Oh ..and I forgot to mention that at the hospital he wears this cute little bow tie, most of the time its maroon I think...:)..looks quite cute.

When I found out I was pregnant with Aaron, I wanted to change gynae as I was of the impression that my current gynae would not allow me to try natural (he did inform me that since I had the C for my first one, I am not allowed to deliver again before 1 year is up) as all the time in my mind, he will take every opportunity to schedule deliveries so there is a possibility that he might just ask to do the C straight away. So I did visit a hospital near my place to see if the gynae and facilities were ok. The hospital was too new and there were only 2 gynaes, and I was not so comfortable with them after reading their profiles. The other option was a private medical centre at Taman Desa which was rcommended by a friend, but that was too far. So back to my old gynae I went. After all have only one dr seeing all of me rather than having so many other. Ha ha. My appointments with him were quite good and he did smile often. No mention was made about the mode of delvery until the 37th week when he asked and I indicated the fact I wanted to go for natural. He allowed but he did warn me when I was at 40 weeks and not in labour yet that there was a possibility that even when I go for induced labour, there was a possibility that my cervix will not dialate as what happened the last time, and I guess being an experienced Dr with over 30 years of experience, he predicted correctly. He told me during the op that Aaron's head was already engaged and that if my cervix was loose enough, I could have delivered Aaron normally. Sigh! Well at least he gave me the opportunity to try for natural delivery. Recently when I went for my postnatal checkup, he found certain parts of my wound swelling and he had this genuine worried look on his face, gave me antibiotics and told me to see him at the hospital in a couple of days.When I saw him at the hospital, he found my wound to be much better and when he said it I could hear the true happiness in his voice. He prescribed me some antibiotic cream and I will have to see him again this Thursday.

To summarise, I think my gynae will not make decisions base on his convenience and will advise accordingly base on each of his patient's medical condition. He is genuinely concern for the welfare of each of his patient and is quick to act in emergencies. I admire him and I think he is worth it to go to. I did ask him when he will retire during the op and he gave a rather interesting answer.."when I am unable to see". I guess he is indeed passionate about his job, not just the money in it. Keep up the good work shang's gynae!

Aaron at birth & few days old

2008-08-12T12:53:00.004+08:00

Arrival of Aaron - 30 July 2008 - II

2008-08-12T12:20:00.000+08:00

I was finally wheeled into the OT at 2 p.m. (I assume so as that was the scheduled time). The OT staff transferred me from the moveable bed to the operating table. I wonder how many OT staff it took to carry me as I was almost 71 kg at that time. The operating table was so narrow, I was wondering if I could fit. The anaesthetician told me to sit up straight so that she could administer the epidural. I could not as I was still in pain from the contractions that still continued to come. I could hear her said “she is still not sitting up straight enough, her spine is crooked”. With the OT staff trying to adjust me I also tried myself to sit up straight but still I could hear “not straight enough, not straight enough”. At one point, I got worried and told her, if cannot, just give me full GA as I was worried that if the epidural was not administered correctly, there was a possibility that I could feel the cut. I could hear her say gently “you’re changing your mind again?”. I replied “only if it is not possible to administer the epidural”. Then I felt a few ant bites at the spine and then a sensation of ants crawling all over the lower part of my body (one would say “semu-semut” when one get that numb feeling).

The anaesthetician then asked me if I could feel my feet moving and I told I could. Heard my gynae’s voice and I started panicking as the operation was about to start and I could still my feet moving. I told her “I can still feel my feet moving (x2)”. She held my hand, calmed me down and used a needle to test my sensation. She poked me at the numb area and asked me to compare the feeling I had with the upper part of my body. Though there was a difference, I could still feel the poke at the lower part of my body and I told her so. She then told me I was already being cut and asked if I could feel. I did not want to imagine myself being cut as it was a scary thought, but yes I could feel the poking needle like sensation as I was being cut. I just shut my eyes and concentrated on other stuff like chatting with the anaesthetician. She was really nice, such comforting voice and we were just chatting like old friends. My gynae also joined in as he was operating on me.

As my gynae hardly have the time to chit chat, I took the opportunity to ask him questions like “when do you think you will retire?”, “where are your kids?”, “are they practising to be doctors as well”? and so on. I also asked him which is better – natural or C and he said natural as the cut is not as big as that of C but I guess it depends i.e. in natural if the labour is not managed well and there is a tear, it would indeed take a longer time to heal compared to a cut. The anaesthetician also asked him why some cervixes cannot dialate and he said it was due to deficiencies in elasticity fibre. We also discussed the difficulties in teaching kids nowadays.

Suddenly I felt my whole body moving like someone’s playing tug of war with my body pulling me apart. I could feel pulling at the lower part of my body and pushing at the upper part of my body. This went on several times and then I could hear my baby crying. I imagine my baby being pulled from the opening while being pushed down from the top. During that moment I just felt I could not breathe, that my heart was being suffocated. I told them I could not breathe but after for a while taking a few deep breaths, I was ok. Aaron had a harsh manly cry…so I asked “why my baby cry like that one?”. Well the answer I got was “He’s got liquid in his lungs now being sucked out” but after that his cry was also the same. I guess he is going to have a harsh voice. The mid-wife then brought my son to me, showed me the tags on his feet to ensure that the tags are of the same number as mine on my wrist. She pointed his birth mark out on his forehead to me. Made baby kiss me twice and off he went to daddy.

After that heard all the sucking sounds of the equipment used to clean the inside of me I guess..while three of us continue to chat. Before I knew it my gynae said “ok, all done”..what a relief I was. They wheeled me out but had to stay at the surgery dept for an hour for observation. I was just lying there and thinking….no!..am not going to have another kid…too painful as in my case, the third would be C straight away – gynae told me during the op. The initial stages of recovery for a C-sect op is really painful!

Anyway, after the hour, I was wheeled to my room and met with Jon there. He was already getting worried as I was away for some time. He thought I had complications. As the epidural was still effective I could chat with him and could even breastfeed Aaron. But as the epidural wore off abt 4 hours later from the time it was administered, great pain set in and I asked for a painkiller. The nurse gave me a penidine injection but it was useless. Simon, WY, Ann, Kevin and their kids visited at night but I was too much in pain to speak with them. WY - thanks for bringing dinner for Jon, Ann – thanks for the bread which he gobbled it down also as he was really hungry..he din have lunch except for the kaya sandwich prepared for breakie.

Was discharged on Friday- 2 nights later. Jon came with my confinement lady to pick me and Aaron. Was told by nursery that Aaron had slight jaundice and so we had to wait for a blood test to be done to determine if he could go home with us. Thank God the reading was low enough for him to be discharged.

Hmmm recently, I find myself thinking, it would be nice to have another girl – probably because, my wound is healing and there is less pain now.

Arrival of Aaron - 30 July 2008 - I

2008-08-06T11:52:00.006+08:00

Aaron was supposed to be due on 27 July 2008 but as of 26 July, when I went for a check up, there was still no signs of labour. My gynae then said that if by Wednesday, 30 July 2008, if I have not gone into labour yet, I should check myself into the labour ward, SJMC, at 7 a.m. in the morning for induction. We waited and waited but still no sign of Aaron's entry.

So on the morning of 30 July, after dropping off Arielle at the babysitter, we headed to SJMC. By the time we arrived it was already 7.30 a.m. cos of the usual morning jam at the federal highway. I was really getting very "kan cheong" more of the fear of pain rather than anything else. The nurses got me ready and by 8.30 a.m. I was on drip to induce Aaron out. Note that this time round there were quite a number of student trainee nurses around, apparently under schorlarship and bonded to the hospital. So it was rather irritating to hear the more experienced nurses teaching the trainees esp during the painful periods.

Anyhow, mild contractions came every 15 mins between 9.30 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. Gynae came to check and only dialated one finger tip..:(. From then on I prayed hard for the cervix to loosen up but I guess God had other plans. The contractions came stronger every 5, and then 4 and then 3 mins until about 12 p.m. when the mid wife checked and found no progress at all. The next moment we knew, they took me off the drip and told me I am headed for the op theatre (OT). We looked at each other in surprise and told the mid wife that we wanted my gynae to check and tell us his opinion directly. The mid wife told us that she will call the gynae but normally he would trusts their judgement. I was prepared to be bundled to the OT by 4 trainees who was asking each other how to trasnfer me to the moveable bed and there I was writhing in pain from the contractions. Jon jon and I got kind of cheez off and told them to get in the more experienced nurses.

Arrived at the OT for an apparently 1.30 p.m. schedule but was then told later that the op would be at 2 p.m. Contractions were still coming and I was really getting impatient. Heard the mid-wife complaining that she was told that it was 1.30 p.m. if not she would not have wheeled me down so early and that she has another patient to jaga, and her shift is only until 2 p.m...unfortunately did not manage to eavesdrop on any hospital hot gossips ha ha...

Finally the anaesthetician arrived with another confusion. Apparently it was written down that she was to administer the epidural i.e. only paralysing half the body. The mid wife told her that I have not been asked and no explanations have been given re the choices. The last time with Arielle I took full GA as I was already in so much pain and was fearful to go on half. This time round actually I told Jon that if I was not on a position to decide at the time of entry to the OT pls choose half for me, so I thought it was he who did the selection for me. But while waiting for the op I changed my mind and requested for full, again cos of fear that I can feel the knife. The anaesthetician got confused and informed that all have been prepared for half. Went between half and full several times but thank God for a patient anaesthetician. Finally I agreed to go for the half.

2 p.m. and in I went....more at the op table later....

Natural vs C-Sect

2008-07-14T14:12:00.002+08:00

When Arielle was born via C-Sect, I was kind of disappointed as I wanted to go through the natural birth process. So this time round I have been praying that my gynae will allow me to go through the natural process as long as the baby is safe. But I will leave it up to the Lord as to which way His will is for me.

Well 2 years ago when I had my first, it has been said that the recovery process for natural birth is faster and within the month, the mum will be back to where she was before the delivery. No side effects being mentioned. Furthermore, the mum can have more & more kids if wanted and no time limit between kids. C-sect is like a major operation where it is expected to take a longer healing process and the mum cannot go through another delivery within the year of the operation. Number of kids will also be limited.

However, recently, I heard views that C-Sect is probably better than natural birth. I have heard that there are serious side-effects after natural birth due to all the pushing required. The internal organs of the mum apparently 'drops' from the original position causing everything to be loose. One of it is the bladder. Apparently, that can no longer be controlled as well as before. Even with a sneeze, the bladder will just release itself. Also, the intense pain experienced by the mum during and after. To quote a lady whom I recently spoke to 'the pain just pierces my heart'. Her first one was C and the second , natural. With C-Sect, so far my organs seem ok..just a scar at my bikini line that itches on and off.

Oh well, whichever way, the pain is inevitable. And whichever route it is, I leave it up to you Lord cos you are forever faithful.

Just can't wait!

2008-07-11T14:27:00.003+08:00

Tomorrow, at my next Gynae appointment, I will be officially 38 weeks. I have put on heaps of weight (abt 17 kgs) and am bigger compared to my first pregnancy. My estimated due date is 27 July 2008 and I cannot wait. I do not know how my delivery is going to be like but I trust that God will be there with us every step of the way.

I really can't wait for delivery. The skin at my abdomen area is stretching too much already. I can no longer bend without being in pain. So I have just started applying cocoa butter though it may a bit late :) ... I have been feeling sick these few mornings after breakfast maybe because I overeat when my stomach has shrunk. I guess I am afraid I will feel hungry so I tend to stuff myself with food. You see during the first trimester I get so hungry in the mornings I sometimes feel I could just faint. And then the ongoing constipation problem that I have always been facing throughout both pregnancies just zaps all my energy. And above all I cannot wait to get back my taste buds. All the good food now just taste terrible in my mouth.

Of course also I cannot wait for the new addition to the family and to see how the little bundle of joy looks like. I almost cannot remember how to hold a tiny baby already so I hope when the little one comes I would become a natural again like with Arielle.

See you soon!

Cord Blood Banking

2008-07-02T16:42:00.002+08:00

We recently decided to store our second kid’s cord blood with stem life as a form of an insurance policy for him. It doesn’t really cost much and we thought that since we did not store for Arielle, at least we have the opportunity to store for this one. Cord blood banking is pretty new in Malaysia, only made available since about 6 years ago. Research and use of stem cells therapy to cure diseases has been ongoing in the Western countries and Asia is beginning to catch up with it. Two of my friends stored their babies' cord blood and I recently saw some brochures on it. So when I asked Jon jon, he was all for it. He said to at least store for one of our kids in case we require it.

Did some research on the use of stem cells to determine if it is worth to store or not. Initial questions revealed that should store only if need to use it to cure any leukemic or thalassemic conditions currently existing within the family. Either that or if the family has any history of such conditions and the likelihood of the child getting it is high, it would be good to store. Further investigations revealed that stem cells can also be used to treat the following diseases which are really not common and unheard of except for the cancer bits :

Myelodysplastic Syndromes
• Amyloidosis
• Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia (CMML)
• Refractory Anemia (RA)
• Refractory Anemia with Excess Blasts (RAEB)
• Refractory Anemia with Excess Blasts in
Transformation (RAEB-T)
• Refractory Anemia with Ringed Sideroblasts (RARS)
S tem Cell Disorders
• Aplastic Anemia (Severe)
• Congenital Cytopenia
• Dyskeratosis Congenita
• Fanconi Anemia
• Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH)
Myeloproliferative Disorders
• Acute Myelofibrosis
• Agnogenic Myeloid Metaplasia (Myelofibrosis)
• Essential Thrombocythemia
• Polycythemia Vera
Lymphoproliferative Disorders
• Hodgkin’s Disease
• Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
• Prolymphocytic Leukemia
Phagocyte Disorders
• Chediak-Higashi Syndrome
• Chronic Granulomatous Disease
• Neutrophil Actin Deficiency
• Reticular Dysgenesis
Liposomal Storage Diseases
• Adrenoleukodystrophy
• Gaucher’s Disease
• Hunter’s Syndrome (MPS-II)
• Hurler’s Syndrome (MPS-IH)
• Krabbe Disease
• Maroteaux-Lamy Syndrome (MPS-VI)
• Metachromatic Leukodystrophy
• Morquio Syndrome (MPS-IV)
• Mucolipidosis II (I-cell Disease)
• Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS)
• Niemann-Pick Disease
• Sanfilippo Syndrome (MPS-III)
• Scheie Syndrome (MPS-IS)
• Sly Syndrome, Beta-Glucuronidase Deficiency
(MPS-VII)
• Wolman Disease
Histiocytic Disorders
• Familial Erythrophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis
• Hemophagocytosis
• Histiocytosis-X
• Langerhans’ Cell Histiocytosis
Inherited Erythrocyte Abnormalities
• Beta Thalassemia Major
• Blackfan-Diamond Anemia
• Pure Red Cell Aplasia
• Sickle Cell Disease
Congenital (Inherited) Immune System Disorders
• Absence of T & B Cells SCID
• Absence of T Cells, Normal B Cell SCID
• Ataxia-Telangiectasia
• Bare Lymphocyte Syndrome
• Common Variable Immunodeficiency
• DiGeorge Syndrome
• Kostmann Syndrome
• Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency
• Omenn’s Syndrome
• Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID)
• SCID with Adenosine Deaminase Deficiency
• Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome
• X-Linked Lymphoproliferative Disorder
Other Inherited Disorders
• Cartilage-Hair Hypoplasia
• Ceroid Lipofuscinosis
• Congenital Erythropoietic Porphyria
• Glanzmann Thrombasthenia
• Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome
• Osteopetrosis
• Tay Sachs Disease
Inherited Platelet Abnormalities
• Amegakaryocytosis / Congenital Thrombocytopenia
Plasma Cell Disorders
• Multiple Myeloma
• Plasma Cell Leukemia
• Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia
Other Malignancies
• Brain Tumors
• Breast Cancer
• Ewing Sarcoma
• Neuroblastoma
• Ovarian Cancer
• Renal Cell Carcinoma
• Small-Cell Lung Cancer
• Testicular Cancer
Autoimmune Diseases
• Evan Syndrome
• Multiple Sclerosis (Experimental)
• Rheumatoid Arthritis (Experimental)
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Experimental)

What is the probability of our kid contracting one of the above especially if we do not have such conditions in the family tree? What else can stem cells be used for? Did a google search and found out that potential treatable diseases includes the more familiar conditions like :

• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Liver Disease
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Spinal Cord Injury
• Stroke
• Knee Injury

More research are being carried out to expand on the use of stem cells to cure other diseases and also on how to "multiply stem cells". The amt of cells in the cord blood may be insufficient to treat an adult, so as the kid grows, the cord blood may be insufficient to treat his or her ailments and donors may be required.

Of course we always pray that both our kids will be blessed with good health and will not require to take out the cord blood.

Doing a google search with words like "cord blood banking" and "stem cells therapy" can provide lots of info on the topic.

Wedding Anniversary

2008-06-04T16:11:00.002+08:00

4 June 2005 - It was the day that the City Girl married the Kampung Boy. 3 years have since passed and we have little Arielle and another addition on the way. God has been good to us showering us with loads of blessings. Of course there have been unhappiness and conflicts in that 3 years but we have managed to overcome them with prayers and support from friends.

Married life is not that easy - so many responsibilities and commitments. It is just tiring to think of what is to be done. But come to think of it I will not give it up for anything in the world. What will my life be without Jon jon and Arielle and the little one?

Happy 3rd Anniversary Jon Jon!

Double Fright

2008-06-02T16:53:00.000+08:00

Arielle had a double fright yesterday and so did we. She fell off the dining table chair yesterday afternoon while trying to reach for some stuff. I could not reach her in time as there were two chairs in between us. She fell on her back and I heard her head hit the marble floor after she landed on her back. She cried for a good 20 minutes I think more of fright than of pain. I felt really terrible. Recently under my care, she has been getting hurt quite often. I made her walk after that to make sure no bones were broken. Thank God she could still walk straight. After that she slept for four hours staright..she must be exhausted.

Then later in evening at about 9.30 p.m., on our return home, a huge van was blocking our gateway and we could not drive in..so i came down from the car to go into the house. While carrying Arielle, I tripped over some uneven tar, could not balance myself and fell knees first, i saw Arielle going down so i quickly twisted my body to cushion her but she still ended on the road. Hubby came rushing to us and grabbed Arielle. Thank God she was not hurt just got scared..She cried a bit and stopped after 1 min. As for me, I had bruised and scratched knees..had those almost 10 years ago. Hurt all night but otherwise...am doing great ..baby was still active..so all ok.

Well at the end of the day, before she slept,she pat her chest and said to me "pah pah" (mandarin for scared). Poor Arielle. Mummy din jaga baik baik.

Arielle in Marudi

2008-02-13T16:54:00.008+08:00

Here are some pictures of Arielle in Marudi. I think she enjoyed herself immensely. She was so tired out by the end of the day that she slept early and we had no trouble at all putting her to bed. Over the week she has learned to say “bye bye” and to take my hand when she wants to “hold hands”.

Balancing Act at home

Enjoying the Canopy Walk at Marudi Park

Cheeky look

Running around the huge compound

But when she got back, she has been so “manja” with us. When I put her at my parents’ place on Monday, she was difficult. I guess after spending the whole week with us, she just wants us to be around all the time. With babysitter, she just din want to sleep. Oh well, I hope she gets back into her routine soon.

Home Sweet Home

2008-02-12T16:48:00.000+08:00

It’s good to be home and sleeping in my own bed. Such a good feeling to have a complete sleep. Almost every night while away, my sleep has been broken. At 2 a.m. MIL wakes Jon up by loud knocks on the door to help in the production of noodles. At 5 a.m. he finishes his duty and creeps back into bed. At 5 something or so, the nearby mosque starts its morning prayers over the huge microphone. At 6 something the rooster starts crowing. Then, finally at about 8.30 to 9 a.m. when Arielle wakes me up. Well that is the kampung life for you.

CNY 2008

2008-02-09T14:21:00.001+08:00

We had the usual traditional reunion dinner on the eve with MIL cooking long life noodles and several dishes even though some of them will not be touched for the night. As usual greedy me will dig into all the dishes to try. After the dinner, elder bro-in-law (BIL) lighted the traditional fire crackers at the entrance of the house which lasted for a good 5 mins to usher in the New Year.

Long Life noodles

Fireworks to usher in the New Year

Just a bit of side track….Sis-in-law (SIL) (married to Jon jon’s elder brother) did all the mopping and cleaning up. I was feeling rather lethargic this year so did not offer to help. I just helped out in the normal kitchen duties like washing the dishes and cleaning up. I hope SIL did not mind. She just has so much to do every day while taking care of two kids. SIL is really a great help to MIL when Jon jon’s sister left the household after marriage. She helps MIL to wash and hang the clothes, prepare all the meals, wash up, sweep and mop the huge house. At times also helps MIL in the noodle business. She wakes up early in the morning, has an occasional nap in the afternoon and then off to bed with the kids. I would say she is a blessing though people complain that she puts on a sour face all the time. That’s because she has heaps to do.

Anyhow back to the topic…at the stroke of midnight firecrackers went off everywhere…..front back and sides. It’s like bombs being let off. The neighbourhood was covered with smoke. Bomba and police patrolled the place in case of any incidences. I guess since they cannot stop the residences, they just have to make sure that nothing happens. Fire crackers were let off for at least half an hour and thank God Arielle slept through it all.

The next morning, on the first day of CNY, MIL made mee suah and all have to eat together again. After that, firecrackers rolled in red paper were let off again at the entrance of the house. At about 11 a.m. we started our visits to all the relatives. Came back for a rest and then continued till evening. Nothing much on the second day. Just laze around which is not good at all. Really making me lazy.

Surprisingly it has been raining non-stop throughout the whole New Year. Its normally very hot and humid here.

One more night to go and we’ll be back to KL…Yippee…but I guess Jon jon will feel sad. After all he grew up here and everything here is close to his heart even though he has left almost twelve years ago in search for greener pastures. Don’t worry Jon jon we’ll be back next year.

Off to Marudi for the New Year

2008-02-06T00:33:00.000+08:00

The long awaited trip is finally here. We booked tickets since August last year. Jon jon must go back every year as it is a once a year affair with his much loved hometown and mummy of course. I have not been back since the Chinese New Year of 2006 as Arielle was born at the end of 2006 and everybody reckoned that she was too young to fly. Her young fragile ear drums may not be able to take the pressure and the sound. You see to go back we have to take first a 2 hr 15 mins flight to Miri (Sarawak, East Malaysia), and then either a 2 hour boat ride along the windy Baram river, a rough jungle 4 wheel 2 hr drive ride through the forest, or a breezy 15 mins flight on one of those small twin engine planes. With a baby the flight would be the best choice but then the ear drums were at stake…so we decided to forgo my ticket last year.

We left KL on an early Saturday morning (2 Feb 2008) flight to Miri. Our Pastor offered to take us to the airport at 5.15 a.m. in the morning as he was sending his nephew who was going back to Sabah at abt the same time. Woke up at about 4 a.m., did some last minute packing, and grabbed Arielle on the way out.

Arielle had fever of 39 degrees C the day before due to a bad throat. Jon jon must have been feeding her too much baby bikkies. She had refused to eat her solids and wanted milk only. We took her to see a Dr. and her fever subsided after medication. However, on Saturday morning, while on the way to the airport her fever returned. My ever faithful crystal forehead thermometer showed her fever increased back to 39. Boy were we worried. Quickly gave her medication at the waiting lounge and prayed hard. She was good on the flight. Played a bit and then slept…guess she was really really tired. I don’t think she had pressure problem in her ears on that flight but she had on the other as she was touching both her ears then. She did not cry though..Good girl darling Arielle. She developed a slight diarrhoe after the 4th dose of antibiotic on Sunday. I really prayed hard for her healing and God placed His healing hands upon her. The next day which was a Monday..no more watery poo poo, and eating solids again. Thank God, He is forever faithful. Since then, she has a good appetite, poo poo well, play well and really sleep well even in the midst of the loud bang of firecrackers.

Marudi is still the same - the food, the people, the lifestyle. Thank God I have been kept busy with Arielle else I will really be bored to bits like that of previous trips and Jon jon will be hearing the City Girl nagging at the Kampung Boy for not entertaining her enuff. Hee hee. One thing I can’t wait is New Year’s Eve – the firecrackers and the reunion dinner, it just puts everyone in the mood. Then the New Year cookies and the visitations. At the moment I can sniff the prawn rolls being toasted by sis-in-law. My favourite New Year goodie!

Hey one thing new I learned about Jon jon…he has a skill which I never knew he had – slaughtering chickens. He helped MIL to slaughter 8 kampung chickens today, some to be sold and some for us to bring back to KL. Yippee. WY, teach me how to make Chicken essence ok?..
Well more updates later.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!!

2nd Gift of Life

2008-01-25T16:07:00.000+08:00

God has given me a second miracle in my life which is due at the end of July this year. I did not expect to come so soon but His timing is always great. You see, we prayed for our second one when I was pregnant with Arielle and He is indeed gracious to grant us the answer so soon. Maybe God is telling us “it does not take long to get prayers answered, you know”. I remember during my Uni days in Australia, a very good friend of mine told me that I should start praying for my life partner. I was about twenty then and only got married thirteen years later!

At this stage I am about 14 weeks and have put on 4kg. I just keep feeling hungry. It’s like a vicious cycle. Hungry hungry hungry, eat eat eat, after that feel like spewing. But we are really excited and up for a challenge of taking care of two young kids while working and without a maid. Thank God that He has provided us with a great babysitter who can be totally trusted and what is most important trust in God and can speak English.

We pray that the baby will be a healthy, normal baby whether a gal or a boy boy. Thank you Lord for this miracle!

Year 2007

2007-12-27T14:35:00.000+08:00

In a few days time 2007 will come to an end and another chapter of my life will be closed.

2007 has been a year of change for me. My lifestyle had to change cos of the new addition in the family. I moved twice and hope will never need to move again. I left my job of seven years and joined a new set-up backed by a large local conglomerate. And….watch out this space for more blessings of 2007.

I have been blessed with abundant life in 2007 and pray that 2008 will be even more so.

Happy New Year and God Bless, Everyone!

God is Good

2007-12-10T17:15:00.001+08:00

Woke up with this song in my mind this morning :

God is good all the time
He put a song of praise in this heart of mine
God is good all the time
In the darkest night
His light will shine
God is good, God is good all the time.

And truly He is good all the time

Tergendala

2007-12-05T09:36:00.000+08:00

I have not been feeling well lately. I think must be the weather. It’s so hot, just feel so lethargic. My brain cells seems not to be working this week. So this blog will “tergendala” for a few days.

Women don’t mean what they said

2007-11-30T15:27:00.000+08:00

That was this morning’s topic of “He says She says” on Mix FM. Every morning on the way to work I will tune in to the Mix FM morning breakfast show with Ika, Serena C and Pietro. At 8.30 a.m. they will normally announce the topic for the morning where men and women are encouraged to call in to say if they agree or disagree.

The first caller was a guy and he totally agreed, complaining that women will say one thing but mean another, for example when a guy goes shopping with a girl, and wants to buy something for her, she will say “its ok, I don’t need it” but the next day her friend would say “ahyah she really wanted it, why you din buy for her??”. Pietro cracked up laughing while Ika & Serena C just gave their usual remarks showing their disagreement.

The next caller was a woman. She agreed to the statement but she gave a valid reason for it. That we women are considerate. Ha ha ha…way to go woman! For example, she wanted to go shopping after dinner one day but when she told her husband about her plans, he just gave her a blank look. So that night after dinner, when her husband asked if she wants to go shopping, being considerate she just said “its ok, we go home”. Pietro just could not take it and said his mind is going to blow. Here is a woman giving a good excuse for something which women are supposed to be doing wrong…cool man.

Well, my view – I totally agree with the statement. On one hand, yes we are just considerate towards our men, on the other hand, we want to test if our men is considerate enough to think of us. So even though we say “no need”, they should just do or get it cos even though we say “no need”, we mean “yes please”…So guys take note…J

Arrival of a Precious Gift

2007-11-29T11:09:00.000+08:00

Today is Arielle’s actual birthday. She was born one year ago via C-Sect at about 2 something in the afternoon. She was supposed to be born the day before but I could not dilate even with induction. So in hope that I will give birth naturally, I asked my gynae if he could delay one day. He had already booked the operating theatre at 4 p.m. that evening and seeing my cervix relaxed a bit he allowed my request with an awry smile. However, Arielle’s heartbeat had to be monitored the whole night as the water level was already low, so he was a bit concerned. The next day, 29 November 2006, at about 6 a.m., I was put on drip again. Felt contractions but dilated only 1 cm. Gynae came on his rounds and broke my water bag at about 10.30 a.m.. Wah…from then onwards the contractions came like the tsunami…fast and furious! I had to grab on to Jon Jon so hard and had to start banging the side of the bed at each contraction. The look on Jon Jon’s face seeing me go through such pain was unforgettable…so pitiful. At about noon, the nurse checked (I really detest those checks) and I was disappointingly only dilating 1.5 cm. I really could not tahan anymore, so I told Jon Jon to call gynae. He came rushing in and on checking found that Arielle had already poo pooed in the womb. So C- Sect was unavoidable. Gorgeous Arielle came into the world that afternoon.

Ever since Arielle’s arrival, there have been many tears of joy and sadness. But the joy of having her just outweighs the sadness and Jon Jon and I just thank God for this precious gift of life. With Him nothing is impossible.

In one year, Arielle has 6 teeth and 2 on the way. She can stand on her own and walks with aid. She crawls faster than any others and can climb stairs really quickly. She will definitely be a jungle trekker. Happy la Jon Jon!

Arielle, Papa & Mama wish you a blessed Birthday and may your life be as enriching as ours right now with you in our lives.

Happy Birthday WY!!!

2007-11-28T11:40:00.000+08:00

Just wanna wish a very good friend of mine HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! We have known each other for more than 10 years. Imagine time flies. She is honest, frank and you definitely can rely on her to tell you when you are not going on the right path. That is a very hard trait to find in a friend and we all need that. She is thoughtful, generous and just helps out her mates whenever she can. 2ann and ponytales can testify to that.

I want to take this opportunity to thank WY for :
-making my wedding ring pillow (I had view of it again while unpacking)
-bathing baby during my confinement (even though she had to bear some conflicts within the household)
-making the most yummiest chicken essence for me (can do again ar..when the next batch of kampong kai comes from Marudi?)
-giving me so many baby stuff that really saved me a lot
-giving me household items when I moved out of my family home
-taking care of baby when needed
-and..for many other thoughtful things

She bakes the best cheesecakes at such reasonable prices. Hey people, let me know if there are any orders.

WY, may God bless you & your family always!!

My Jon Jon

2007-11-27T13:41:00.000+08:00

Ever since I started my blog, I have been wanting to write about my hubby, Jon jon. He is really God sent. I never in my wildest dreams expect to settle down, have a kid, and now have a house of our own but God has been good to me. Yes, Jon jon is the kampong boy which I am married to. He is from a village just outside of Miri called Marudi. It takes about 2 hours by boat and only 15 mins by flight. There is a new route by road but its madness driving through the jungle. It’s like the 4WD adventure.

Back to Jon jon…he is just such a great guy…always there for me and putting up with my nonsense (well not only mine but nonsense from my side of the family as well) at times. He is not the argumentative type at all. When I get agitated, he will just keep quiet and listen. When needed only advise accordingly.

He has been working very hard lately to get the house ready for us to move in. He is the electrician, the plumber, the handyman, the painter, you name it, and he will be it. Every evening after work for the last few months, he will be at the new house. Although I know he has been extremely tired, still when he comes home he will take time to play with baby. Only after baby go to bed, he will start doing his work. It is because of him that we are able to move in just on time to celebrate baby’s birthday.

Many people may not be able to connect with him as he is really a man of few words especially with people he is not familiar with. But he is a really good friend who will extend his helping hand anytime to any friend in need.

Jon jon, Arielle and I love you heaps!!

You’re one, Arielle!

2007-11-26T13:41:00.000+08:00

Time just flies and Arielle is gonna be 1 on 29 Nov 2007. In line with the general thought that it is better to celebrate a birthday earlier rather than later, jon jon and I decided to hold a small high tea party for baby yesterday, 25 Nov 2007. It was also an opportunity for our close friends to visit our new place.

Invited about 30 people but only about 20 turned up…with 6 babies and 2 angels. It was such a cool sight seeing all the babies together. There was Baby Jonathan, Christopher, Timothy, Cynthia, Zoe & Isaac. 2 of Arielle’s friends could not make it…Baby Choe Den and baby Ashley. Imagine if all were to come there’ll be 9 babies altogether under one roof including Arielle.

Arielle was in ok mood throughout the day although she slept very little. There were a few incidences about her that I thought was pretty cute. First, was her reaction towards balloons when jon jon blew them up. She reversed backwards and refused to touch them. Second, when baby Christopher was lying on the mattress, she crawled up to him and held his hand. I was afraid she was going to pull it out since he is still fragile at abt 2.5 months. When I pulled away her hand, she did it again. I think she likes babies. And the third was, when I was holding baby Jonathan, I think she got envious. She crawled towards me, started tugging at my legs and whining away.

Arielle’s birthday cake was baked by WY. The marble cheese cake was really yummy. Luckily I still have some in the fridge as I only had one piece yesterday.

There were heaps of food…I think we fried too much nuggets and fries and I over ordered the nasi lemak. Thank goodness some of my friends helped by packing some back else jon jon and I will be eating the same food for the whole week and it’ll be cold food. Have no equipment to heat up the food as yet. Thanks to WY for helping to prepare coleslaw and sandwiches. To my ex-staff who so kindly make the agar agar for me when I just asked her for the recipe.

We had a good time and hope everyone had a good time too. Happy Birthday Arielle and God Bless you always!

Discovery Days

2007-11-23T09:53:00.000+08:00

Every year my church will have a 2-day children’s programme called Discovery Days – normally during the last weekend of November. As I am part of the team of Sunday School teachers, I have always been involved in helping out this event for the last few years. I would always take leave on the first day (which is always a Friday) for the event. However this year, I have decided not to be involved in the operations but just managing the accounts. I have just started a new job and do not have sufficient leave to take the day off. Furthermore I have been real busy with all aspects of my life that I didn’t think I could have the time to attend meetings after meetings. Today is the first day of DD 2007 and feel kind of guilty not being part of it. Kind of sad as well as this year my favourite kid, WY's angel no. 1, is attending the fun event.

Normally during the first day, the kids will go through a programme of worship, ice-breakers, games, crafts, workshops etc. Kids will learn about God’s word by going through a series of stations. During the second day, the kids will go for an outing. In the past few years, I have been to Petrosains, Sunway Petting Zoo, and the Science Centre (if I can remember correctly). During the Science Centre outing, I remember, one of the kids under my care injured his finger when playing with one of the experiments. I felt bad that I did not ‘jaga’ him ‘baik-baik’. Apologised to his mum who was also a Sunday School teacher. This year I really cannot remember where they are going but to somewhere with a weird name. Well am looking forward to sending Arielle to a DD event when she is bigger. Then che che Alyssa can ‘jaga-jaga’…

Violence against children

2007-11-22T14:14:00.000+08:00

Yesterday morning I heard over MixFM that two teachers in Thailand had been arrested over gang raping a group of girls aged between 6 to 8 years old. Really saddens me when such things happen to little kids especially now I have a little girl. What is worse is that the crime has been committed by teachers, people whom we parents are supposed to trust to educate our children and not to harm them.

Violence against little girls is increasing at an alarming rate and the perpetrators have not been caught. Malaysians are still in shock over the Nurin Jazlin case where the little girl, 8, was abducted and one month later her body was found stuffed in a sports bag, sexually assaulted. Then there is the case where Preeshena Varshiny, 9, whose body was found sprawled on the ground floor of a guarded condominium. She was also sexually assaulted and apparently pushed of from one of the units. The sad thing is she was only left at home alone for only two hours.

Even though my little darling Arielle is still young and with us all the time, I worry about her safety in the future. The world is getting cruel and violence against children has increased. I pray and ask the Lord everyday to protect her, to lead her all the way and that she will always be in safe hands in whatever activities she joins. Arielle, Papa & Mama leave you in God’s hands always.

Snoozing at the Wheel

2007-11-21T09:29:00.000+08:00

These few days, I find myself falling asleep at the wheel, to & from work especially with the longer journey I have to make and the jams I have to go through. I guess I have not caught up with the weekend sleep lost and I have been waking up really early to do some unpacking before going to work.

Falling asleep at the wheel is extremely dangerous. Two people whom I knew in Perth died when the vehicles they were in veered off the road because of snoozing at the wheel. A friend’s sister was driving back along the freeway past midnight and hit a divider when she fell asleep. Not sure, but I think she died instantly. Then a church mate’s mum got thrown out of the car when his dad fell asleep and the vehicle went off track while they were travelling out of town. I think she also died instantly. It was extremely sad. His dad felt really guilty. She was a great mum and wife.

I fell asleep a couple of times while driving but thank God nothing has happened to me. It was during my younger days when I went out clubbing and only returned home at about 2 to 3 a.m. in the morning. The roads were clear so I thought I’ll take a short snooze while letting the vehicle move on. After all, it’s a straight road. I guess God woke me up a few seconds later when the car was cutting into the next lane. Quite scary.

Now what I do is to make sure my eyelids are kept open each time I feel sleepy. Once I close my eyes, that’s it…Ill just sleep. Imagine toothpicks propping my eyelids. On the radio loudly and keep my mind active.

Those who cannot tahan, please park your car legally somewhere and take a short snooze first. Take care!

Fragility of Life

2007-11-20T12:00:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, my boss reminded us that life is indeed fragile. The spouses of two of her acquaintances passed away suddenly over the weekend, one due to a fall leading to a brain haemorrage while the other had some illness. Over the weekend I also received news that my ex-boss from the club which I used to work had also suddenly passed away at the beginning of the month due to a brain haemorrage. He had a heart by-pass before, so I thought it was because of a heart attack but his wife informed that he had an aneurysm of the main blood vessel of the brain and had a bad headache before he collapsed while at the club. He was about 55. It was shocking news to me as we still remained good friends after I left the club though we do not meet often. I messaged him to convey deepavali and birthday wishes just this month but instead got a reply from his wife. She is still in shock and so am I.

Many of us don’t realize how fragile life is. Although we are made superior beings, there are uncontrollable forces that are greater than us – forces of nature & forces against our body systems – both are equally fearful.

Remember the tsunami in December 2003 that took thousands of life across several continents, the 1970 and the recent cyclone-hit Bangladesh, bush fires, flooding and the list continues. These events are fearful and I cannot imagine if any of these hit Malaysia in its full fury.

Then there are the silent killers – viruses & bacteria in the air that attacks and paralyses our immune system, the undetected malfunctioning of our body system and freak accidents. The angkasawan’s brother, 32, passed away recently due to a freak accident where no one actually knows what happened.

Though we cannot do much about the forces of nature, we can try to beat the silent killers. Stay healthy and be careful in whatever you do.

The Big Move!

2007-11-19T12:30:00.000+08:00

Woke up at 5.15 a.m. early Saturday morning and finished off some packing. Baby was still asleep so can do more stuff. Bb sitter offered to take care of baby until 2 p.m.. Thank you Belinda…you are such a darling. Well, packing is no problem but moving from a 5th floor walk-up –apartment is a problem. How to encounter the gruelling task of walking up each time you bring stuff down. Well it’s the mind thing…concentrate and you’ll make it. It’s the same technique that I employ when I go trekking with dino d jungle and friends. Otherwise if you just rely on physical strength, you may not make it or you’ll make it with much difficulty. Anyway it’s better than moving into a 5th floor walk-up apartment.

That day itself hubby and myself walked up and down at least twenty times each. It was like we were training for our trek up Mt Kinabalu. Thank God that we were moving into a house as unloading was so much easier and took half the time. By mid-day, our new place looked like it has been hit by a tornado. Picked baby at about 2 p.m…went back and started unpacking some stuff. Baby was confined with me in the master bedroom as the rest of the house was dusty. Being “lau hai siew” (itchy hands) she was thrilled with so many stuff on the floor to touch. As usual she went for those sticker items like price tags and sticky tapes. She likes to investigate small spots on the floor too. Really cute, my darling Arielle.

We had a wedding dinner that night..was really exhausted but had to go as we RSVP-ed. But as usual I made us late. Imagine the bride had to call us twice, the second time just to inform us that the dinner will start first. So embarrassing! The food was good though. Maybe because we have not had a decent meal all day.

Snoozed at 3 a.m.

Moving Finally!

2007-11-16T12:00:00.000+08:00

We are finally going to move into our new place this weekend after months of climbing 5 storeys everyday before we reach home. Not forgetting with baby Arielle who is getting heavier by the day. Thank God she has been pretty small else we would have really big arms by now. A few months ago, we decided that staying in a house is much better so we went house shopping and wa lah ended up with this almost ten year old house which I must say has pretty good layout and pretty good price. The house was handed over to us in Sept and we have been working on it till now.

We did some minor reno at the back. My hubby’s uncle who is a contractor was imported fr his hometown of Marudi to carry out the works. Cost much less than if we were to appoint a contractor here. That lasted for 2.5 weeks. Thereafter with the help of my brother-in-law and his girlfriend, we did the painting and other repair and maintenance works required. Done only during the weekends (that’s why it has taken months to complete).

I must say setting up a house is no easy task. So many things to do yet so little time. So many vendors to call for various works required and decisions to be made as to which is the best. Water filter la, mosquito nettings la, alarm system la etc. etc.

Few weeks ago, our worse fears came true….leaking roofs! One right smack in the front of our entrance and the other in the back room downstairs. Our hearts just sank. Thank God the one in the front was just a temporary one…hubby climbed the roof and found that water was flowing through the Astro wire which was leading into the roof tiles. After that was removed, the problem went away altogether. Yippee!!!. Then the back room…for a couple of weeks we thought the water was coming from the water tank area when it rains heavily as the leak was realized during one of the rainy days. But on monitoring during rainy days, the area was still damped but not much water seems to be flowing down the side wall. However recently when I washed the back bathroom upstairs with lots of water being poured , lo behold water was just flowing..so we concluded that it’s a waterproofing problem. Well, after many years of dealing with leakage problems at my parents’ place, I was actually really stressed so I just decided to pray about it. On the same day, found an ad in the Star about waterproofing without hacking of tiles. It’s a technology from US. A representative came for inspection and told us that it was due to cracked tiles but guess what? He gave a quote of RM1k for waterproofing only. We still have to get other contractor to hack and replace the broken tiles first…sigh…Though that vendor did not work out,I still thank God for letting us know the problem. That has not be settled..but move in first la …J…anyone one know a good contractor that can do waterproofing at a low price?? I already have two quotes - one below RM1,000 and the other about RM1,200.