Baby names

These past 2-3 years, I have seen friends who opted for single names for their babies.

Maya, Jannah, Arsyad, Jamal to name a few.

It looks like single name is trending nowadays. It goes way back to ancient histories where most people were mononymous. Even most of our parents, I believe, are mononymous. Probably gone are the days of people naming their kids with three names, or even four (plus four of the dad's. tabik spring dekat these people. penat weh nak tulis kt borang hehe). Actually it is really convenient. Simple and meaningful. Even if you have four names, you are likely called just by one. But even if you have just one, people would still cut it short anyway haha. Hafiza jadi Ija, Adilah jadi Dila. So, really it's up to individual. But kudos to these friends of mine who chose to name your baby just by a single name. You guys inspired me :)

H and I are still undecided on our baby's name. Siap one time tu we both decided to 'one two jus' everyday for 30 days to agree on one name. But then after the third day dah terlupa nak jus -__- so we are back to square one. I guess once the baby pops out, once you see his/her face, you'll just know the perfect name to give.

Is that what happened to you guys?

Hypnobirthing Class

At the beginning of our 5th month, I started asking around for antenatal class. A friend suggested either SALAM or HUKM antenatal class, and I also looked at options for classes in Penang as it would be more convenient for us to go to. Then one night my ever-so-helpful sister tagged me on this Facebook ad 'Seminar Hypnobirthing Womb2Room' or so it was called (she has been tagging me on pregnancy/baby/mommy related posts since I got pregnant). I've heard of hypnobirthing before from various sources, but I didn't thought of going to its seminars/classes. To cut the story short, I signed up for the seminar that very night.

At the seminar, we were briefly introduced with the whole hypnobirthing concept.There was also a session on breastfeeding and birthing experience sharing from hypnobirthing parents. At the end of the class an offer was made to attend the full class at discounted price. I was hesitating at first, because to be honest with you the full class isn't cheap. But somehow H easily made the call that we were going for the full class because he said 'It's gonna be good for you', and 'There's money back guarantee' if I didn't succeed in getting a gentle and easy birthing experience. We registered for the intensive 2-full day class since we couldn't commit to come to a 2.5 hrs class for 5 consecutive weekends.

We almost couldn't make it for the class because I just reported for duty at the beginning of the week and the classes were held on Thursday and Friday. I only managed to get my boss's approval on Wednesday morning. We decided to take the midnight bus from Penang to KL, and 5.5 hrs later we arrived in KL with my ever-so-swollen feet. Note to self -  don't take bus while pregnant!

It was a 9am to 6pm classes for both days with 1-1.5 hrs of break in between. There were just two couples other than us, one from Sabah, and another couple from Seremban (she's due in 2 weeks). So the intensive class was meant for couples outside of KL and mommies who are >35 weeks pregnant. Kak Ayuni is oneof  the Certified Hypnobirthing Practitioners in Malaysia and has been an advocate since 6 years ago. She started Womb2Room 3 years ago and has helped hundreds of hypnobirthing parents all over the world (yes not just locally) to go through a gentle and easy birthing experience.

We learned in depth about the history and the concept of Hypnobirthing, got hypnotized by Kak Ayuni's soothing voice (I enjoyed this part A LOT!), watched many hypnobirthing videos (never seen so many vjjs and boobs all my life haha), discussed about birthing plan (the dos and donts), learned breathing and massaging techniques, and so many other things in between. H was the sole note taker during the class because as Kak Ayuni said, this class is more crucial for the birthing companions (the husbands) to focus and listen to than the mommies because when the time comes, the mommies won't probably remember what she has learned in class. It'll be the husbands who'll be in charge calming and reminding the mommies of what to do (and not to do) during the labor and birthing process.

All I can say is, the class is really worth the money spent. Thank you H for not hesitating to register at the beginning and for being so involved during the class. Even now he keeps reminding me to do the 'calm breathing' every time I am anxious or in pain for whatever reasons. At night he would turn on the CD we got from the class so that we both could practice the relaxation/hypnosis technique.

May the hypnobirthing force be with us!

p/s: There will be a seminar on 16 April. Check it out on Womb2Room Facebook.

A new chapter of life is about to begin.

Collecting dust is what this blog does best -___-'

Anyhoo, that's gonna change! (very loud scream)

It will be filled with amazing mommy-to-be stories from now on, and of course some other stories as well.

Yes, I am pregnant! Or we (me and H) are pregnant! I read on What To Expect app that you should always say 'we are pregnant' because both of you are implicated in this huge life event, even though you are the one carrying the baby. What to do kan, men don't have uterus. But that doesn't mean you should exclude them from the equation.

So reminiscing the time when we first found out that we are pregnant...

Back in October, while were still in the UK, we planned to go on a short vacation to Brighton-Portsmouth-London before we went back to Malaysia for good. So off we went to Brighton for 2 nights, then headed for a day trip to Portsmouth factory outlet (too lazy to Google the name now). At the time, I already missed a day of my period. Yeah, people said to check after 7 days of missed period yada yada yada, but I know my body, my period is always regular and somehow I got the feeling that I am pregnant (mother's instinct at its best). Plus, since this would be my third pregnancy after two previous history of miscarriage, we decided to not take chances. If we found out we were pregnant, we were going straight back home to Nottingham.

To make it more dramatic, on that day, my UK bank card could not be used. Then I figured it was 14 October, the bank sent me a letter saying that they would close my account on this date. Silly me I didn't remember at all! I would've transferred all the money into H's account if I did (that's another long story of how I finally got access to my money. Waited 4 months for it). So then I tried my Malaysian cards, no luck. We didn't try H's UK card because there was not enough money in it. In the end, we had to buy the pregnancy test kit using H's Malaysian credit card. Tried 4 cards just to buy a pregnancy test kit lol.

And so the verdict came out..



OK not sure how to turn that image now..

Right after we found out, brought ourselves straight to the parking and drove home (about 4-5 hours of driving).

It was then time for us to board the 12-hour flight home on 20 October. We were a bit nervous because the pregnancy was still at a very early stage (read: very fragile) and flying home can be a bit strenuous. I lost my second pregnancy one week after flying home in June 2016. So yeah, you could understand the worry.

This time around we took all the precautions - no heavy lifting, no long walking etc. I was resting for the whole of duration my first trimester. We were in the middle of moving into our rented house sometime in November. H did not let me lift a single box. Basically I just sat and saw things happened haha. But the most important thing of all, we leave everything to the Almighty. Whenever I felt worried, I kept chanting 'Yakin yakin yakin', that I always have to believe in Allah for all His decisions are for nothing but the best.

Alhamdulillah for this rezeki. We are now 6 months pregnant with a baby...surprise!

Rebirth.

It has been almost three years since I last blog in here. First I got busy, then I got lazy. But after submission of my PhD thesis three weeks ago, I started to think it's about time for the rebirth of this blog. I miss sharing just about everything under the sun (though I have to say it feels kinda awkward reading my older posts). Also when I got back from my Europe trip, I got the calling. H and I learned so many new things during the trip that we thought could benefit other people. So in days to come I might blog about that.

So what happened in these three years that I was MIA?

1. Got married in April 2013 (my last post was March 2013)

2. Ventured into online business. 

3. Found a new life passion

4. Traveled the world

5. Had two miscarriages

6. Submitted my PhD thesis (almost at the finishing line now. #prayfordla)

And everything in between.

Happy to be blogging again!

Sabar.

Worked 8 hours on SATURDAY. Experiment did not work.

Worked on troubleshooting the problem for 7 hours today.
Did not work.

Most probably have to repeat the whole experiment.


T_______T

Bertabahlah wahai otak, wahai hati, wahai badan.
Allah sedang mengajar kita bersabar.

Happy Women's Day!

Macam kebetulan terfikir nak blog pasal ni and hari ni Hari Wanita Sedunia. Guess what I'm going to write about? 

BEAUTY TIPS!

Haha. Not qualified, I know. But remember this? 'Sampaikanlah walaupun sepotong ayat'. So kalau ada sedikit pun ilmu kita kena share :)

Selain daripada prepare for the wedding day itself, B2B akan prepare herself for the big day, as in jaga all aspects of her beauty yada yada yada. Now that I'm in that phase, barulah terasa oh God kenapa lambat sangat baru nak realize ni kurang, tu terlebih, that shouldn't be there and the list goes on. Kalaulah dari zaman remaja dulu dah sedar at least now just kena maintain je and bukan baru nak start. Ye, sepatutnya bukan baru nak start jaga itu ini bila tahu nak kahwin ye. Kalau tahu setahun awal nak kahwin takpelah juga, buatnya boyfriend kau ajak kahwin bulan depan tak ke terhegeh-hegeh nak pergi spa sana sini, masa tu dah terlambat diknon. And one more thing these beauty regimes bukan nya seminggu dua dah boleh show results, at least kena 3-6 months, itu pun kalau betul-betul jadilah. Another thing, it is too risky to change your beauty regime at the very last minute, especially skin care regime sebab kalau tak sesuai and you have breakouts and all, takut tak sempat je nak betulkan balik. 

So ladies, please start early. Start now! 

Selalunya perempuan ni (me included), especially yang bertudung, kita just fikir nak jaga muka sebab itu je yang nampak. Yang lain tu secondary. But actually semua pun penting and kena jaga. Let me share apa yang kita selalu lupa/abaikan based on my experience (sebab sendiri pun tak amik kisah sangat dulu :P)

1. Nail and cuticle

Malu nak mengaku actually, but for the sake of sharing. Seumur hidup baru pernah buat manicure sekali, itu pun bila kesedaran timbul few days before nak bertunang haritu. Cina yang buat tu pun geleng kepala and cakap, 'Ini banyak keras wo, you kena selalu datang'. Lebih kurang camtu lah ayat dia. 

So at least once a week, rajin-rajinkan lah remove your cuticles and apply nail and cuticle oil untuk mendapatkan jari-jemari yang lembut mulus. luls. Tak perlu pun pergi salon, buat kat rumah pun boleh. Just buy the necessary stuff and tengok Youtube. 

2. Scars and stretch marks

Old acne scars and surgery scars boleh try guna Bio Oil. Untuk stretch marks dekat you-know-where sebab berat fluctuates like crazy, boleh try Palmers Cocoa Butter. Stretch mark ni kadang-kadang kita tak bother pun nak check sebab ingatkan perempuan mengandung je develop stretch marks, tapi sekali sekala cuba examine your whole body. Boleh Google untuk keterangan lebih lanjut mana nak cari stretch mark areas especially for women :P

3. Eye bags

Oh tell me about it! My biggest concern is my eye bags! Dah baca (read:baca, bukan buat :P) macam-macam kat Internet and ada la buat a thing or two, tapi doesn't seem to work. Tegar sungguh eyebags ku ini (or maybe I didn't try hard enough). 

Wash your face with ice cold water in the morning, massage around the eye area, use eye patch, use eye cream, place frozen cucumber slices on the eyes. Dah cuba semua ni tapi give up half way sebab tak nampak kesan. Nampak sangat tak sabar. But you guys yang ada eye bags problem cuba buat those tips above consistently and tell me jadi ke tak okeng.

4. General well-being

Ni paling basic yang semua orang tahu tapi couldn't care less. Untuk luar nampak cantik, it must come from within. Cewah. That's why it's important to take care of your well-being, by eating well, exercising and by looking after your personal hygiene. 

Take fruits and vegetables everyday, UK NHS suggest five 80 grams portions every day. The campaign is called '5 A Day'. *tetiba promote kempen NHS*

Exercise at least 3 times a week. Tak perlu sign up gym membership pun. Buat kat bilik pun boleh. Tengok Youtube sudah. Exercise bukan sebab nak turun berat je tau, untuk yang dah ada ideal weight, buatlah toning exercise pulak. 

Personal hygiene tu faham faham sendirilah eh. Baju laundry elok-elok, cadar tu rajin-rajin tukar, kalau pakai make-up jangan lupa pakai make-up remover, contact lens jangan biar sampai kering yada yada yada. Rumah, bilik, dapur pun kira termasuklah sekali, janganlah muka cun body mantap tapi suami balik rumah ya ampun macam tongkang pecah. hihi

I think that's about it. Ingat, start now! Tambah-tambah dah meningkat usia ni (25 this year waw!) lagi macam-macam kena jaga. Belum cakap pasal supplement, pasal wrinkles, aging oh noooooooooooooo!

Here's to all beautiful ladies out there! :D

Love note.

I'm not gonna lie, my relationship has seen its great and awful days. But what I love about it is how we pick it up again after those awful times. Arguments and disagreements can be good to a relationship if you can manage them well. Alhamdulillah so far we are able to do just that. Every time after a fight, when we finally understand what either of us tried to get across before it started, it's like falling in love all over again. 

Alhamdulillah. 

49 days to go.