Monday, October 31, 2005

Bak's back

project done, baby is progressing well ... to top it all up, Bak is back and Daddy is returning next week. Soon all little Ahmad's grandparents will be around!!! Alhamdullilah ...

Bak reached Singapore on Friday afternoon and was soon engulfed (literally) by his granddaughters. They simply could not lose sight of him. If they realised that their grandpa is not around, they will start looking around and asking for him :) they sure misses him. Little Ahmad on the other hand, started kicking quite furiously ever since he heard his 'Wan' and 'Tok Bak' conversing when breaking fast. Wow ... he sure know his grandparents. Can't wait till my dad is in town and let Little Ahmad hear his voice. The previous time he heard his grandpa's voice, he kicked and kicked. Can you imagine next week? Hmm ... Sure backing myself up when the whole family gathered together.

Yesterday, courtesy of my bro-in-law, all of us were treated to a delightful buffet iftar @ Cafe Vienna. Heheh ... bring back fond, fond memories for me and hubby. From steamed rice, to sushi, kebab ... oh my, the bread and butter pudding is a hit with me. It's so heavenly. Subhan'Allah ... I'm thankful for the meal. There was simply so much food. And to top it up, Zubir was there too with his zambus, playing music for us. Wah ... what else can I ask for? This is the second time I saw him performed live and third time meeting him. And he was sweet ... Aah ... it was a nice day yesterday. It ended up with me getting a teddy bear from hubby dearest ... I can't resist the beanie toys ... really. Got a classic teddy ... hahah ... well ... baby wants a teddy bear, right ... (ahah ... baby or mummy??? winks)

Will add the photos in soon ... once I can get hold of my lap top. Meanwhile ... have a wonderful iftar and wonderful week ahead. It's going to be Raya soon ...

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Product done ... baby's visit

Alhamdullilah ... finally completed my D&T project yesterday. Would not be to do it without several classmates' help. Really, really grateful to them for their assistance and care. Not forgetting too the technicians ... they really watch out for me in my final few weeks of pregnancy. Now left the project & personal folio, artefact write up. Not going to work much today ... today is day for me to rest. Really needed it ... woke up feeling nauseous and ended vomitting.

Today is another visit to the docs. Alhamdullilah ... baby is gaining weight, though I only gained 0.1 kg. Hahah ... bringing my weight to 47.5 kg. I know, i know ... it's not much. But the most important thing is that my baby is fine and growing well. Doc is pleased with the baby's progress. According to him, baby is not engaged yet ... meaning that the baby is not in the final position before delivery. So there's still time. But baby is getting there ... sleeping is not an easy task. Have to sleep on my side ... so you can imagine how sore I would be in the morning. But it's the last leg of the race ... just hanging on in there for dear baby ...

Friday, October 28, 2005

Me back ...


Wow ... I have been away for 3 days. Last post was on Monday and now is Thursday. Well ... nothing much has happened except that I was tied up with my electronics and plastic project. Here are some snapshots of my project so far after 3 days working in the workshop. Tomorrow looks set for another day in the workshop again ... well ... good news is that the project is extended to 7 November together with submission of the folio. So effectively I still have another week to go. Not feasible though. I have enrichment courses (full day events) and not forgetting too, Deepavali and Raya!!! Also, the backaches and tummy pains are coming though not at a regular intervals. Need to be careful though. So giving myself till next Monday to complete everything. Pray for me, k ...

Ooo ... I heard thunder. It will be a cool night tonight. Oh dear ... now it's pouring heaving. Hope everyone got home safely after terawih tonight. Amin ...

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

D&T all the way now

Final essay completed. Just left to be submitted tomorrow. Now what's left is the Design & Technology stuff. Been working on the paper work ... printing, cutting, pasting and sketching things, my folio is growing and growing. Alhamdullilah ... the research part will be on-going so now head onto choosing the final design, proposed production plan, production plan and critical dimensioning and all. Heheh D&T jargons. At least for the next few days.

Just got news!!! I'm an aunt again. My couz in Malaysia has just given birth. Now, me got the blues again. Everyone is holding their babies. I can only hug myself to hold mine :\ ... oh well, at least I can still enjoy the privilleges of being offered seats in public transport though sometimes it did not materialise. People will just daze and look in one direction when here I am ...HELLO ... hanging on for dear life amidst the crowds. But to those who gave up their seats for pregnant ladies like me ... you guys are such a dear. To those who don't, well ... some of them, it could unintentional so they are not at fault for not being observant. But for those who intentionally looked away so they can save their seats ... well ... it's your choice. Who knows ... there's always something called 'Pay It Forward'.

Monday, October 24, 2005

To Go or Not To Go?

Final week of school!!! And there are 1 essay to do, 1 folio to do, 1 product to produce and it's all over! There's NO more counselling class today so NO class!!! Should I go to school and start on my product production OR work on my folio and get all the circuit diagrams, design ideas, materials for my project and get to stay @ home? On the other, let's go for the latter. Did not much work over the weekend. Somehow I'm not very productive on weekends. So it's better for me to start being productive today and 'piah' all the way till Friday. Just hope my back does not act up on me again =\ Backaches are often occurances now and slight pain in the lower abdomen. To sleep nowadays seemed like a tricky issue. I need to have pillows below my tummy and behind my back. And sleeping on my back is no longer a pleasure I have. Usually I will be breatheless and had to turn to my sides. So in the morning, one side will be sore. Have to remind myself that this is the last stretch =) It will be nice huh ... if my baby is a Raya baby =) then my dad need not have to travel up and down and save the trouble of relatives visiting twice. My dad-in-law will also have a longer time to spend with his grandchild before he returns to Qatar again. Well ... I can just buzz and ponder and hope ... in the end, only HE will decide when is the best time for my child to come. May HE protect my child from harm and may HE protect me during my last stage and during childbirth. Amin! May HE guide Nazzer and I towards building our family life and enrich us with blessings and guidance. May HE guide us towards being good parents and good persons. Amin!!!

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Morning call to prayers

The morning call to prayers is different compared to the normal ones we heard. In comparison to Maghrib azan. For Maghrib, people are waiting anxiously in anticipation for the time when one can break fast. But for Subuh, it's very rare for the major proportion of people to wait for the call to prayers. In fact, hearing the azan in the morning is somehow different. It's more in touch with one's soul. Not sure if anyone can understand this. But it's humbling feeling ... one can hear the beauty of the call to prayers ...

Packing me bag ...

Another round of shopping. Hopefully the final round. For myself in preps for little Ahmad. Need to start packing my baggie now.

Wow, finally in my 36 weeks ... final 4 weeks. By next week, I should be on standby. As in serious standby!!! So first to-do ... get all that's required (should be checked!), second to-do ... pack bag (on-going process), third to-do ... continue life as per normal (which means working on my projects), fourth to-do, when it's time to go, it's time to go.

3 signs of time to deliver
1. water bag burst
2. continuous contractions (5 contractions within 10 mins)
3. bleeding

Hahah ... better put my school pals on alert too. Who knows, some of them might need to send me to the hospital :)

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Princess & the Pea

It's Friday once again. Today is the last day of our wood work ... finally my first aid cabinet is completed. Will add the pix of the final product in. Now, time for folio work ... need lots of design ideas and finally work on the product itself. Also 1 more last essay to do. Dateline for essay is next Tuesday. Btw if anyone of you come across cute baby or toddlers stuff ... containers and such while surfing, do me a favour, can? Drop me a mail with the URL. Need some design ideas for my product. Target group is school children below the age of 12.

Baby news ... I have backaches. Thought at first it was due to my long hours sitting and working on my essay. But since it has been around for the last 3 nights ... guess it's due to the pregnancy. Simple reason is the additional weight i'm carrying in front is adding pressure to my back. Even when sleep, the pain doesn't elude or disappear. To counter the pain, i had to put a baby pillow under my back. Hahah ... felt like the princess in the Princess and the Pea. Very delicate back ... Asked my sis-in-law about it. Her reply was that it's any time soon. Hmm ... I better start packing. Can you believe it? I have not start packing yet. Tomorrow need to get some stuff then time to pack it all in. That's all for now ...

This is Mummyhas ... out

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Counseling Essay over!!!

Finally I have completed my dreaded counseling essay! Phew ... it's not easy to think up of your own case study let alone discussing about your approaches and all that. Alhamdullilah ... submit this during 3.30 class and the burden is off. Started writing the outline last week but somehow to string it all together was not easy. Working on weekends was not very productive. Left with no choice and putting my heart & mind to it ... tada ... 25 pages essay. Wow ... it's been quite a while since I wrote an essay that long. Even in uni times ... reports can be long but there are figures, experiment findings & tables to add. This counseling essay are just words, words & more words. Printed out ... filed it up ... all set to go. Can heave a sigh of relief as now I can concentrate on my folio which submission date is pushed to 7th Nov. Hmm ... but anything can happen in Nov so now I have to work more closely with my tutor ... to make sure everything is in before I pop.
Oh ... time for Quick Bites
1 500 words essay left on What it means to be a teacher
1 cabinet left ... putting on the hinges, door knob, cleaning up ...
1 artefact ... designs, ideas ...
1 folio ... working on it :)
15 days of fasting ... alhamdullilah ...
14 days away from Eidilfitri
8 days left at NIE ...
36 weeks pregnant ... wow, entering the final stretch of the long run. Pant, pant ...

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Treasure hunting, anyone???


Ini harta siapa yang punya?
Ini harta Mohammad Ashraf yang punya!!!

Here lies Ahmad's treasure chest which will house all his cute little clothes, pampers, toiletries and all. Heheh ... very cute, huh. Bought it @ Ikea. So many ideas & so many things I would love to buy ... but little Ahmad comes first. So here it is ... made of cloth so it's light. It has holes for ventilation ... so you can ensure that there's proper air flow. Cool huh! Kids nowadays are so lucky.

Monday, October 17, 2005

1 Big Family Buka Puasa Session

When Azan is heard, all tucked in. Alhamdullilah, today marked 12 Ramadhan. Everyone is healthy and well ... with smiles as plates passed around. What's for breaking fast??? Steak, karipap, roti prata ... much, much more. Simple yet stomach-filling :)

Next comes the limelight - all girls doned in their finest or should I say brightest colours. See the pixs ... before and after photo shoots!!! The delights shown on the girls' faces when Anjang brought out the lighted sticks for them to play around with. What else ... the lights went out and colours came alive!!!

Mirror, mirror on the wall ... who's the fairest of us all?

Of course ... my little niece. Heheh ... my first try at editing photos! But that's not the point!!! Isn't she a dear? When Nazzer & I brought her out, people would thought she's oud daughter. Guess what ... she emulate Nazzer's childhood behaviour too ... Wanna know what are they? Ssshhhh ....

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Doc's Visit

This is the monitor showing little Ahmad's head. It's not very clear ... the scanned photo I have was of his liver which I will put in when I get hold of a scanner. Here the gynae is showing us the circumference and all, explaining the medical terms.

Last visit to the doc's, I gained 2 kg. This time, I only gained 0.2 kg. Total weight gained this far is 8.2 kg. Little Ahmad is estimated to weigh 1.93 kg. My little one is so small and tiny. Doc kept saying baby is small, baby is small. Got me so worried ... so down. Also, the expected date is 26 Nov. Not 16 as I predicted. Well, as Nazzer put it, doc cannot predict the actual date, right. Down and this time a double whammer ... i was hoping that the doc would say it's possible that my due date is 16 Nov. Somehow seeing other moms carrying their little ones in their arms, make me yearn to hold my own. Can't wait for the little one to come ...

Back to my weight gain ... sincerely I was hoping that I would gained another 2 kg. But 0.2 kg ... it's far, far below my expectations. Doc said it can be due to my fasting. He doesn't refrain me from fasting but advise me to supplement myself during sahur and buka. Sincerely, after fasting and break fast, do you really eat a lot? I found myself eating less and less ... as in the stomach has been trained to consume only what is required. Perhaps my tummy did not consume enough. This brought upon to another thought ... will I have enough strength when the baby matures @ 37 weeks. That's 2 weeks away. Will I??? Will my fasting affect my baby's health or my health after giving birth ... ? No one can actually say a definite answer. Only me, myself. Now thoughts of my little one not having enough water in his water bag ... MasyaƁllah, it's enough to chill my morning.

So now when I break fast, I need to consume more ... food and water intake. When I sahur, I need to do the same too. Not just for me, but most importantly for little Ahmad.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

All for Little Ahmad ...

Hehehe ... the fruits of our shopping trip to Baby's Kingdom last Saturday. The rare times when I can get Nazzer to go out shopping ... and we shop for 2 hours ... just for little Ahmad.

Here lies little Ahmad's bedlinen, bottle steriliser, milk warmers, bath tub, safety mattres, baby grooming set, carrier, hooded blanket, pacifiers. What's left in the shopping list ... toiletries. Well, that will be another shopping trip. Anyone wanna join?

Opps, mail just came in or more like I just noticed my mails. One of which is the enrichment programme immediately after the last day in NIE. Phew ... they sure line up the programme for us. Each day, there's a talk, induction programme and all. And guess what ... we are going to visit the Civil Defence Academy, NIE's neighbour. All lined up till 11 Nov. Hmm ... will that date be too near my due date? Tomorrow we shall know when we visit the gynae. Mummy Has out ...

Last day of the working week!!!


Quick Bites
Today marks the following ...
  • 10 Ramadhan, leaving 19 more days of this precious month
  • Friday, last day of the week & 1 more day before the doc's appointment
  • 35 weeks, still 35 weeks pregnant & 5 more to go
  • 2 essays left to do, 1 major (counseling) & 1 minor (what it means to be a teacher)
  • 2 projects, First Aid Box & Eye Care (product & folio)
  • 15 days, 15 days left in NIE
  • 3 coppers just passed my block. Just simply out of the blue ... then comes the coppers
  • Baby's Kingdom is delivering little Ahmad's things today!!! Finally get to see what we bought for him. We simply buy and buy and now we can't really remember what we bought ... :P

Started the day with a simple pampering. Thanks to Marsupi & gang, I got this hand therapy lotion from Crabtree & Evelyn. What else ... I used it! Now my hands are more supple and there's a light feeling to it! Thanks Marsupi!!! Now, I must pamper myself even more. Simply just to take my mind of the upcoming delivery. Had to admit, I'm scared. Delivery can come in 2 forms - normal delivery or ceaserian. Normal delivery is further broken down to non-assisted normal delivery and normal delivery with epidural. The best one is definite the non-assisted normal delivery. Don't get it wrong. Non-assisted means, there's no aneasthetic or medicine used to numb the pain. Epidural is used to numb the lower body so one can simply deliver without feeling anything. But I heard there are some side effects to it like migraines and backaches. Ceaserian ... is simply like another operation. But more care is required to ensure that the wound heals. Sigh more pantang lah ... me & my paranoia

Despite that, I really can't help being amazed at my pregnancy. From that hectic moment when the pregnancy test kit indicate positive. (hey ... I tested 3 times, k. Just to be really sure :P) to the first scan ... seeing the heart blinking in the monitor & finally hearing the heart beat ... and now the frequent fetal movements. SubhanAllah ... it's been an amazing 8 months. Kind of sad now that the delivery date is coming soon ... which means, giving up the privilege of getting seats on buses and trains (which is not very often), getting someone to do the hard work in the workshop (can harm my baby), getting the attention from dearest hubby and everyone in the family. Guess when little Ahmad finally arrived into this world, all the attention and focus will be on him. But guess what ... I would want to lavish my attention and love on him. Can't wait to hold him in my arms ... above is one of the fetal scans. Hopefully, there'll be a new one to add tomorrow :)

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Coming over ...

This is the new blog as mentioned in www.haslindayusof.blog.com. Why the transfer? Trying out something new ... also ... this new space has more features to try out :)

Okay, what's going to happen today ... there's electronics workshop session today and this time, I better start working on the circuits bought last week. Which means soldering!!! Not that I have much of a choice but I take precautions of wearing the mask when I was soldering. Another area to work on is the research of ideas and all. Heheh ... all these may seem alien to you ... but this is part of my final D&T project. I still have the cabinet project too ... but not to worry much about it as there's no design aspects involved. What's different for this electronics project is that I have to produce this artefact and jot down what I have done to produce it ... in terms of design, shapes, sizes ... components used, justification, communication and all. Not easy job to do ... especially with less than 2 and half weeks to go!!! Time to be more productive!!!

Oh ya ... then the counselling essay. Hmm ... I have to write 2 essays about how individual counselling and group therapy. Need to have case studies ... any volunteers ...

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

First post ...

Quick bites ...
I'm 35 weeks pregnant, leaving 5 more weeks before I pop! My tummy has definitely grow bigger over the days, little Ahmad has been kicking actively, constantly moving around. Very responsive too ... when his Daddy called him or anyone start patting my tummy, hey ... little Ahmad start moving.

Baby ... insya'Allah, his name will be Mohammad Ashraf Bin Mohammed Nazzer. Wow ... quite long, huh ... but we'll call him Ahmad as we want him to have Prophet Muhammed's values. Being parents, we definitely want the best for our little one.

Not much pixs as yet ... just his previous scan. Perhaps this Sat, can get a new one coz we are visiting the gynae to check on little Ahmad!!!

Me left 3 more weeks at NIE, before the compulsary enrichment courses and hey, guess what! School posting will be out on 1 November. So I will know which school I will be posted to insya'Allah before I give birth. Hmm ... where will I be posted to???