Making Baby No 1: Moving On.

Today Fred accompanied me to go for my review. My Doc greeted us with "Wow, 8 months already!" Yes, wow... time flies. We have another 5 - 8 weeks to go.

Our little Mia is consistently growing and at this stage she is 2kg or 4.4 lbs. As for me, I'm 63kg at today's weigh in!

She's very active inside always moving about and kicking/punching me in not so nice places including my pee pee bag. To which I have to tell her..."OK, anywhere but the pee pee bag please!"

Another thing that has happened this last Wednesday is I noticed my belly button was being pushed from inside. Oh my gosh....Mia is trying to push it out!!!! The bigger belly, the bigger boobies, the slightly larger calves, the waddling, the ugly green veins that's appearing on my breasts I can handle. But NOT a popped out belly button. I frantically pushed and pressed my belly button back in and told Mia to stop it. Thank goodness the jerking stopped and the belly button is safely and gorgeously tucked inside. However, I don't think it'll last though, so my Plan B when that happens would ultimately be to.... put a plaster on it.

Secretly though, when she is moving about, it gives me the assurance that she's fine inside. She usually loves to move about when I'm lying still. Everytime I switch position (eg lie on the side), she'd also move about to find her comfy position too.

Making Baby No 1: What's in a name?

31 weeks already today... another 6 - 9 weeks to go!

It has been a while since I've updated my blog and a lot has been happening. But first, a little announcement:

On 09.09.09, I went to see my doc for my review together with Teresa Alberto (let her have a chance of seeing Poppy!). All tests were fine (urine check, blood pressure check, weight check) and then it was time for the scan.

This time, Poppy was ever so cooperative and decided to show off:No sausage this time. Just a plain burger! Yes, a girl... We'll soon be welcoming Amy Liew Yi Mei.

Which then may raise some questions. Why Amy? Well, because:

1. I wanted Amelia but hubby said it's a bit difficult to call.
2. Amy is short and simple.
   
3. Amy, after a good friend who's 1 strong, smart and ambitious lady whose birthday also falls in November.
4. Hello, this little munchkin is going to me a little me. Angeline Mimie becomes Amy.

The name Amy means Beloved, while Mei means Beauty (or beautiful, can't remember my husband's explanation now!). So, to directly translate her name, it would be our Beloved Beauty I suppose. One thing for sure, she'll be inheriting the beloved beauties of my past.... my gorgeous handbags!

I was discussing with my husband that I've got at least 3 friends who are called Amy and there may be a bit of a confusion. So, we'll still be nicknaming our little Amy....."Mia".

Of 9s

14 August 2009, Friday.

Baby countdown ..... only 99 days to go!

Finally we've dropped to double digit numbers. Excited yes, scared YES.

I'm getting leg cramps and my ribs are torturing me when I slouch. Good time to improve on my posture.

As for Poppy, well she/he is happily squirming away inside there, especially when there's a song playing. She/He was kicking real hard as I watched a Michael Jackson concert on TV. When I lay down on the bed after rubbing stretch mark lotion all over my belly each morning and night, I can see and feel Poppy kicking and squirming away as well. It's like a scene from an Alien movie. Weird and amazing at the same time.

I'm getting heavier now. My last weigh-in a couple of days ago was 60kg. Poppy is 900g and I'm happy/concerned a bit (I was told this is a little chubby for a 25 week year old. The usual weight is 750g) . Happy that Poppy is growing but concerned that she/he may be a bit too big for my huu haa to handle at birth.

The gender, again I'm told we can't be too sure but most probably Poppy is a girl. Yeah!!!!! But I'm not getting my hopes up too high ....

My next appointment is going to be on 9 Sept 2009. That's 09.09.09. Fred and I originally planned to get married on that date but due to family persistence, we changed the dates many times and ended up getting married on 21.02.2009.

But hey, 09.09.09 would still be a significant day for us. The day we'll find out if we'll be expecting an Amelia @ Mia OR an Alan, for sure.

My niece Avie would be glad. She cried out that we can't call our baby Poppy - that's a DOG! I had to explain to her that Poppy is a flower and the name is only temporary.

By the way, Fred changed our desktop background picture to this:Cute right?! We've got cream and white coloured clothings covered. So, will we be buying clothes in pink or blue anytime soon? Only time will tell. Haaaaaa, 09.09.09

1st Ezah Family Reunion

The Joimols

On Saturday 1st August 2009, the Ezah family (our family - the Joimols, are descendants of Majani Ezah) had our 1st family reunion held at Mamai Anselmus Dusain Majani's residence.

Lots of activities were held with the objective of having family members and relations getting to know each other better. Of these activities, there was of course the family portraits. Unfortunately, at the time the Joimols were getting their group photo taken, I was emceeing the presentation of prizes to the children. And Fred, he was still at work - chairing his company's Regional Meeting.

So, the 2.5 of us (Fred, Me & Poppy) took a separate photo much later in the afternoon:



My sister-in-law Elva and little Rederick also managed to make it to the reunion. Little Rederick at 10 months can walk and run a little already. He's such a happy boy, always drooling and smiling showing off his 4 front teeth:

The Children's Games/Sports events were held earlier in the morning (8.00 am - 10.00 am). It was such fun chairing this part of the whole reunion thing. I had help from my aunts, cousins and nieces in arranging for this part. Here are just some of the pictures taken:

Treasure Hunt (searching for coins in a plate covered with flour)

Limbo rock - see how round I've become! I feel like humpty dumpty with boobies at this stage

Eating competition. That's Anne Anne up there trying to finish her watermelon.

Remember this game? Coconut Shell race - my cousin Susanna and her kids together with my cousin Jevitus were huge help in finding these coconut shells. We kept them after the reunion so that next time, we don't have to beg those pasar aunties to give to us.

Team event: Passing rubber bands scavenged from a plate of flour using straws to the end of the line. We had 3 teams of 5 members each. All were guaranteed winners of course - either 1st, 2nd or 3rd placing!

Laundry Day

Cloth diapers, towels, booties, mittens, little baby jumpsuits.....

You can hang on to your knickers, I haven't magically popped Poppy out of the oven while Rosie is recuperating from her fantastic road trip!

I've been told by well meaning friends that all baby's wear had to be washed before use. Cloth diapers especially had to be washed at least 3 times to make them super absorbent. This is the first load.

Notice how Poppy's clothes are all white. Well, can't be sure if this little one is going to be a girl or a boy yet, so we decided to play safe. I mean, I can't imagine if Poppy were a boy and he'd have to settle with a pink skort!

I know I still have 17 weeks to go, but I thought of getting a head start just in case....

Is it a boy or a girl?

I've been plagued with this question ever since I found out I was pregnant. Honestly, nothing is conclusive for now.

During our Detailed Anomaly Scan just last Thursday, we tried to have a peek at in between Poppy's crossed legs. What we saw resembled:

Yes, looks like a coffee bean!

Our radiologist said that its a bit difficult to tell at this point, but it looks more like a girl.

I'm pretty much sure Poppy's going to be a girl (about 60%), but Fred still thinks Poppy's a boy. He said that the coffee bean we saw, that's the Poppy's balls.

If that's the balls, where's the penis I wonder.

Well, we'd have to wait and see. I'm due for my monthly check up with my Doc this Wednesday. Hopefully by then, we'd have a more definite answer to the question: Is it a boy or a girl?

4th Sabah International Folklore Festival

While waiting for our food to be served, Amy, Carol, Nora & I went to the Grand Restroom for a break. Coming out refreshed, we stopped for a photog moment with one of the dancers from Kazhakstan.

Ok, this blog post should have been up days ago. But I've been so engrossed with my Counseling course that I've been putting it off for nearly a week.

Janet, Norashikin, Carol, Amy and I attended the 4th SIFF Prime Show held at the Grand Ballroom @ 1Borneo. Hubby was also there together with his brother Ah-Sheng + wife Irene, and our dear friend Zyee's 2 handsome brothers.

How was it, you may ask? Well, I was quite disappointed. Maybe this was due to my high expectations. For one, the only grand thing about the ballroom was its restroom. And then the rest of it:

• the ballroom itself felt cramped
• the stage was small and too low to see much of the activities there. I mean if its going to be a dinner show, the organisers should have foreseen that they'd be a lot of movements by the wait staff in serving food thus blocking the view of the stage. They really should have made the stage a bit higher
• the food, oh my gosh. How shall I put it, hmmmm, it was edible (and I'm being kind here). The presentation of the food was really slow. By 9.30pm, we were only being served the 2nd dish. By the time all the dances were performed, we still haven't been served the dessert. Fed up, we left without waiting for it
• even the wait staff attending to our table was not properly trained. He didn't know how to slice the fish for us and was so nervous to do it, he asked if any of us know how to cut the fish! We tried to encourage him to just do it and it didn't matter if it wasn't perfect. In the end, Norashikin had to take the knife away from him and cut the fish for all of us
  
• Sound system - could have been better.

I really hope that they do improve in the organising of the Prime Show in the years to come. I've attended the Prime Show years before and they were much better.

I mean, we're paying a minimum of RM1000 per table for the dinner show and I really don't feel that this time round, we're getting our money's worth. Honestly, it really should have been held in a hotel like STAR or Sutera Harbour of which has more experience, better ambience, and are more capable of handling such functions.

On the plus side, the dancers from Philippines were great. It was not a surprise to us that they nearly made a clean sweep of all the awards. The troupe performed a medley of 3 dances. Two of which are in this video clip:

So, how can I help you today...

Oh what a week! I've just completed a 5-day intensive "Counseling Theory & Practice" course offered by the Sabah Theological Seminary.

The course as a whole has been really interesting and it helped me learn a lot about myself. Through watching videos and listening to the lectures, I gain a better understanding of why I've turned out to be the person I am today. In participating in the live counseling sessions, I've gained skills to make me more empathic.

Conducted by a visiting lecturer/counselor from Hong Kong (Dr Mable Young), the course comprised mainly of Masters students. I was the only one not enrolled into their academic program. Still, I'm going through the same assessment process ie assignments and an exam all due on 31st July 2009.

Overall, I enjoyed the course and am looking forward to my next course. Yes, I've registered together with hubby, into their course: "Personal Growth". Wuhooooo!

July is here

JULY 2008



















JULY 2009












Last weekend, I went underwear shopping at Parkson, Wawasan Plaza in Kota Kinabalu. Sorry, too much info?!

Anyhow, as I was browsing in the undies dept, examining the various bras they had there, a salesgirl approached me.

Salesgirl: Would you like any help?
Me: Yes, I need to buy new bras.
Salesgirl: What size do you normally wear?
Me: My boobies have grown and are still growing.

Salesgirl gave a bewildered look. After a long pause, she whispered "Errrrm, are you pregnant?"

At the time, I was thinking, "Helloooooo, isn't it so obvious?"

Then, I realised that I was in my high heels, dressed in a short skirt, wearing what has now turned into a figure hugging t-shirt.

Oh my gosh!!!!! People must be thinking I'm just another girl with a case of a huge muffin-top and still trying in vain to look hip and happening. There I was, 20 weeks pregnant and still did not have proper maternity wear!

I suppose I have reached one of the best times in pregnancy. For it is now time to shop. YEAHHHHHH!

FYI, I ended up buying 8 pairs of new bras. Yes, I got carried away. Next, it was time to give Modernmum a visit. For starters, I bought maternity jeans and skirt. Total damage for the day: RM684.

The Big Scare

We had a big scare early this morning, around 1.15am. I noticed blood on our bed and realised I was bleeding.

My hubby asked "How come got blood?!" Darling, I'm also at lost here!

I wiped myself and saw that the blood was getting less and less. We then decided to go and see my doctor first thing in the morning. But when I went to the toilet to pee pee, more blood came out. Fearing the worst, I told Fred that we'd better go to Damai Specialist Centre then and there.

I called the DMC to tell them to inform them we're on our way. The journey from our home to the hospital was quiet, neither of us spoke and silently prayed for Poppy's safety. Meanwhile, the bleeding has stopped.

Once we've "checked in" to DMC, the staff nurse interviewed me and also spoke to my Dr over the phone.

Seeing that the bleeding has stopped, and there were no clumps of blood present, I was discharged. I was told to come see the Dr in his clinic in the morning.

By the time we got home, it was a past 2am. I couldn't sleep much and kept going to the toilet to check on my situation. Still some spotting.

We went to see my Dr at around 10am to get Poppy checked. After another round of interview with the Dr, we did a scan. Baby's head, spinal cord, beating heart, placenta, amniotic fluid - all ok. Then the Dr did further tests to see where the bleeding was coming from. The verdict: ruptured uterus.

As long as Poppy is fine, I'm fine.

I was given duphaston pills for my abnormal uterine bleeding. Have to take it 3 times a day for a week. And no heavy lifting, excessive movements for the next few days as well.

Luckily we've got new DVDs to keep me entertained.