the once in a blue moon chef

lately i have been following the masterchef series quite frequently. in consequence , prompted me to sort of make a dish yesterday evening. something which can be considered 'extraordinaire' in my daily routine. sorry hunny, for the cooking mode came while you were out station ;p

i wanted to make something that involved white sauce in the menu. something simple. therefore i chose to make a creamed potato and corn dish. it was a bit experimental as this was my first time trying to make white sauce form scratch and well ,, it works! the sauce tasted better than the canned one. hmm now that i have my own signature recepi for a white sauce.. lasagna would be next!

why oh why..

i don't understand why  this toad-faced umbridge look-alike is getting all these  titles when it is an unspoken but publicly known and accepted fact that she is the LEAST likable lady in malaysia.

tak paham betul aku.

Little France

we brought Harris to Colmar Tropicale, Alsace,France Bukit Tinggi Last tuesday. (Public hols honouring first of Muharram - new year in Islamic calendar).

This is Harris' second time in Bukit Tinggi. the first being while he was still our in-utero child :p Harris as usual showed no signs of enthusiasm about the place unlike his parents. La belle indifference! :p and coincidentally we met our friend and his family who also studied in Nancy last time. Of all places!

Ginger houses

I miss France. huhu.

post call

survived my first oncall after a loong break. let's see my list of admission and referral. started off as early as 900 am and went on until 3.00 am before i can finally dozed off. i don't have too many admissions but the referral were mostly critical and major cases. 1 dissecting aneurysm of abdominal aorta, 3 upper GI bleed, 3 intracranial bleed and the rest were minor cases. three deaths out of the total of 14 referrals. 1 died in district hospital ( i was waiting for the case since 11 am and only found out by 1 am the next morning that the patient had passed away), 1 died in casualty and one in the ward. what a day ( and night!) right?

 jonas brothers sungguh.


was so eager to go back to meet my little Harris the next morning.

surgical palpitation!

i will be doing my first oncall in Surgery this friday. MO call. scary! luckilly i'm gonna be oncall with a 'benign' specialist huhu. i am aiming for a very least number of admissions and in house patients, please and please be stable!

hubby will be out stationed to singapore at that time. Harris will be left parents-less for a night :( not liking it :(

UNICEF - Raise Your Hands, Stop Child Abuse

UNICEF - Raise Your Hands, Stop Child Abuse


This is ma main. get your hand done too ;)

Beau reve

Harris' daydream. inspiredby Mila's :D
the giraffe costume was a present from my Jordanian cousin who bought it in Aqabah. it's very cute! even have a strap tail at the back (which can be detached).
my chubby little Harris.
he has started mouthing!

day 1 of life

today i started working again. Alhamdulillah, everything went well. Managed to pump out 3 bottles today. was aiming for four but had  no time.

missed Harris so much while at work! both me and hubby kept on calling home to check on Harris. adoih anak, sayangnya same kamu.

The other side of me

Praises be to Allah. Cheri, petit cheri, and I have safely arrived after spending 2 memorable weeks at my other hometown - Irbid. . extremely joyous and lovely rencontre with my paternal side of  family.

Dubai is like WOWW! really really Big WOW!

will blog about these two later.

weddings and the mommy thingy

went to two weddings today: Zaty's and Rokiah's. I departed from Kuantan at 0940, left Harris and the maid at  chez grand-mere and set my journey alone. The two brides looked very radiant and lovely. didn't get to meet too many schoolmates though.. anyway, since I was Harris-free for a solid 7 hours, i have to endure the extremely uncomfortable feeling of  milk engorgement.
aduih.. i definitely have to excuse myself for milk pumping every 3 hours once i restarted working otherwise I don't think  I can work peacefully :D

We will be travelling to Jordan next week. Me, hubby and little Harris :) please pray for our safety ( and comfort) through out the long voyage, especially for my petit angel. budak comel itu sangat la mengasyikkan.huhu.

harris et maher zain

everytime i play maher zain's tracks, Harris will lie down quietly and will look around, lost in his own world.

Harris aime maher zain? there you go mr. zain , your youngest fan :D

 

love this version of inshaallah. merci pour votre musique ya maher.

one step closer

My leave extension has been granted.
therefore one of my ambitions might become true very soon.
step 1 : buy Harris a stroller - done that today;-)

ambitious

there 's alot of things i want to start doing. Major things. I have the desire, but I don't know How and where to channel the impulse.
 God.  Help.

improvised look

farewell old blog bliss . hello a new one:)

The arrival of Harris

ENFIN !! Our petit angel is here!!

Our baby was born on August 21st 2010 ( 21 / 08 / 2010 ) at 37 week and 6 days of POA. everything seems to happen timely. mama planned to start taking pre delivery leave on saturday, and there you were ! showing the sign of getting out from my womb as early as 630 a.m in the morning of saturday 21st.

I was about to perform my subuh prayer when i felt something dribbling down my legs. initially i thought it was the incontinence which i sometimes experienced when i cough or sneeze ( or any manouvre that increases intra abdominal pressure in that matter ). however, this one came unprovoked. I hesitated and sat for a while. it had gone. I then continued with my prayer. halfway performing it, the dribbling became more prominent.. it was more like streaming then. My prayer was halted. There and then I was pretty sure it was not urine. It was something else coming from a different tunnel. My heart skipped a beat or two. ' is it gonna be today?' 'for real?' and i kept asking myself the same thing over and over.
mama told papa of what happened. there were both happy and nervous expression on his face ( so did mine). we already pre planned to travel back to kuantan that morning as papa was supposed to work and my leave began that day. i did not feel any contraction pain nor having show at that moment, therefore we were not rushing and took our sweet time to prepare for the voyage to the hospital:)

we arrived at the Kuantan Specialist Hospital around 1015 am ( after stopping by wan and aki's house to pick up some essentials) and checked in. The liquor kept on gushing out that the back of my cloth was quite significantly soaked. mama was initially placed in 4-beds- room. it was ok but not condusive enough. lack of privacy i guess. The nurses were nice. as i lay on the bed, the midwife nurse began to set up the CTG probe on my belly. well, my dear boy your CTG was reactive :)

Dr suraya came to check on you and mama around 1215 pm ( as she had an OT case to run earlier). She's a very lovely consultant specialist. She advised me to have Prostin inserted (a per vaginal medication to induce labour) as i still did not feel any contraction pain even after 6 hours plus post leaking liquor. i reluctantly agreed as i knew she was right but also had heard the less favourable story about prostin induction ( especially about its hyperstimulated pain ).

I was right too. mama began to have a moderate contraction straight away right after 5 minutes or so post prostin. my cervical opening was only 1 cm prior to the prostaglandin insertion. After 1 hour, the pain was becoming more and more frequent and stronger. i was no longer able to smile or laugh at papa's jokes. Dr Suraya came to my bed again. my os was on ly 2 cm at that time. she then prescribed me with intramuscular pethidine to ease the pain. the drug did make me sedated but failed to do its main job : pain relief. i suffered for another hour or so with contractions frequency of every 15 seconds!!

i could not take it much longer ( with os that small n pain like you are almost ready to push!) hence requested for epidural analgesia. they then pushed me to labour room for the procedure. i was lucky to be pain-free while on the wheelchair. however the ultimate pain came while i was about to underwent the procedure. i couldn't describe how excruciating it was. the midwife checked my os once again before the procedure. it was 3 cm but cervix was already effaced, she said. my epidural was administered by Dr Nordin, an anaesthesiologist. i was crying, citing 'Allah' ' lailahaillallah' and the syahadah. i didnt know what else to do. Papa was there all the while from the beginning, holding me, massaging, kissing my forehead and stuff. He too was worried and sad, seeing his wife in agony.. the pain was soo strong that i bearly felt the epidural needle being poked at my back, luckilly i did not move. Dr Nordin gave mama a bolus spinal analgesia as well for immediate pain relief ( as epidural's will take 5 to 10 minutes to work). My whole body felt numb for a while after the drug was introduced. i was almost immediately pain free after the procedure. Then Dr Suraya did a VE on me once again. i couldn't believe her when she said my cervix had already fully dilated! what?? 3cm to 10 in 10 minutes????? - Yes it was a superfast precipitated labour..

they then hurriedly prepared me for second stage labour and arranged my legs in lithotomy position. because of the newly introduced spinal analgesia, i barely felt like bearing down. however the midwife was monitoring my contraction hence helping me to know when to push. the second stage was very brief, with papa, dr suraya and the midwife encouraging me rather ..casually i'd say ( as i was no longer in severe pain :D ) . Being a doctor was a plus at that time i guess. though i didn't really have the bearing down feeling, but i technically know the correct way to 'push' and it did help!! Papa got to see your temporal head for a while( and he was really amazed it seemed) before your head crowned. I initially refused for episiotomy ( KSH still applies the 'rule' - epi for all primid) but after contemplating about my baby well being ( estimated weight of 2.8 Kg , no continuous ctg monitoring at that time, prostin induced + precipitated labour which were all prone to cause fetal distress) I finally agreed. Dr Suraya performed the episiotomy when your head was crowning. and in a matter of seconds, you were already on top of me my dear.. no longer inside.

I was speechless and mesmerized. hearing your first cry and saw you moving your limbs actively gave me a relief : i knew straight away my baby had a very good APGAR score ( indeed it was excellent. your APGAR was 9 at 1 minute and 10 at 10 minutes!) . they put a linen separating you from my belly which i slowly removed so that your skin would touch mine. it was so surreal. both papa and mama were in awe. we are finally.. parents - To a lovely baby boy.

The bonding time was very brief. they then brought you to an open care to put you under warmer ( as well as to have you cleaned). papa went to see you and had you 'azan-ed' while the doctor and nurses were nursing me. I can't help smiling, feeling fully tranquil. i have delivered our very own child...

After half an hour or so, the nurse returned you to us. you are soooo cute and adorable and tiny. you weighed 2.41 Kg, with length 43 cm and head circumference of 31 cm. your sugar level was 3.4 mMol/L according to the glucometre. Dr Siti was your attending consultant paediatrician. the first thing papa told me after he saw you was ' comel nye baby, mata die kelabu'. indeed you are very cute and your eyes are beautiful as well as the whole of you.

by 530 pm. we are transferred to a single room which was waaay better than the previous one. you were visited by many of our loved ones that night. wan and aki, nenek and tok, your great-uncles and great-aunties. everyone was in a very cheery mood just because of you :)

i think i have written long enough. there were still alot of things to tell you. but i will do so in future entries.

we named you, our petit ange : Harris - a protector, the guardian of heaven :)

ALL ABOUT OUR BABY

i am currently at 37 week 2 day of period of amenorrheoa. my early scan at 11th week correlated nicely with my estimated due date. for the past 9 months my pregnancy-hood can be considered uneventful except for mild anemia ( whereby Haemoglobin level dropped to 10.2 currently from the baseline of 13) . I am considered risk-free from developing gestational diabetes melitus both interm of history and clinical ( thank God) but i still decided to have a go for Modified Oral Glucose Tolerance Test at 32 week POA JUST because I am more than 25 years old. Apparently it was supposed to be in the new GDM guideline, however since the screening was not cost effective, the ministry decided to scrap it off. My blood pressure maintains at 110 mmHg systolic/ 70 mmHg diastolic throughout.

I have completed my anti tetanus toxoid jabs in time and my infectious screening are negative. I felt the quickening as early as 17 weeks of POA, and the fetal kicks increase over time both in term of frequency and intensity. My husband and I can even recognise the fetal parts when the baby kicks prominently as I entered the late trimester :)

At one ocassion, as I went for my routine ultrasonography at 35 week 1 day POA, my baby's parametres were found to be quite significantly smaller than the expected range but growing still. Therefore I have to repeat scan ( done 3 days ago) to rule out the diagnosis of Small for Gestational Age. Glory be to God, it has been ruled out after the subsequent scan:) That was not the only matter that troubled me at that point of time. I also noticed he was kicking less actively than usual within about 15-20 hours, thus prompted me to have a Cardiotocography done, just to make sure the baby was ok. Baby is indeed in good condition. the CTG was reactive with sufficient accelerations and excellent baseline variability. yeay! and yes, the baby then started kicking and coiling around like no body business right after the CTG completed!

As for now, being a 37 weeker, I wait patiently and anticipatingly for the arrival of my baby. My first child . My fundus currently sizing about 36 weeks ( can still put my two knuckles in between the xiphoid sternum and the fundus) - in keeping with my pregnancy age;-) my baby is obviously a singleton, longitudinally lied, with cephalic presentation and head has alredy engaged by 2/5th below the pubic symphysis:)

baby dear, we are ready to have you in our lives :) muahx

2nd annivesary

26th of July 2008 : 20.09H

We were solemnised as husband and wife at this date and time. can't believe it has been two years since then. I still remember every bit of it and never tend to forget the historical moment. we upgraded our love to another level... and now after two years, we are about to reach another milestone - parenthood.

Happy 2nd annivesary husband. this (currently in-utero) child is our marriage's greatest gift :)

WC 2010

i think it would be almost sinful if i didn't blog anything about the world cup 2010. as far as this blog is concern, it is compulsory!

I am, in general, entertained by the world cup tournament. congratulation Sepp Blatter. From the (selected) matches to their coverage of south africa's cities and even the world cup theme song! ;-)
the opening goal by the south african chap was fantastic ( eventhough they eventually lost the match). I was by default rooting for France to win the World cup , ignoring my already-there instinct that they wouldn't make it far considering their sloppy World Cup qualifying campaign. the french fiasco sort made it worst. they deserved to be at the bottom of the group. the only bright thing was they finally able to get rid of Domenech.

I am never a fan of Brazil and Argentina therefore couldn't be more excited to see them trashed out by their exuberant opponents. Brazil has always been too.. religious, to the point that i became nauseated seeing their post-scoring dramas. that was not the only issue i have against them but it was quite a significant one for sure, hehe. As for Argentina, Maradona has been more entertaining to watch than Messi who was basically outshone by every other Argentinian players. But it is quite a norm in a tournament such as this, where by the expected star players failed to perform up to our expectation and ended up in a disgraceful end. Rooney, Kaka, that-S.O.B - Ronaldo joined the wagon too :P Torres and Van Persie were a bit lucky as they still could progress to the finale as a team, even though they were just as dim-lit as the previously mentioned.

perhaps, the team ( and coach) that enlightened the 2010 WC the most was Germany. Their games were extremely energetic and delightful. They shone as a team rather than as individual. almost all of them played the part. Good Job Joachim Loew. BTW, i like his sense of fashion and style. Too bad they had to face Spain in the semi. i was hoping that particular match to be a final instead.

Finally, the final showdown - Espana vs Nederland . An ill tempered and foul-filled match ( mainly produced by the Dutch). Spain in a way managed to play it cool though i have to admit they were silently provocative as well. They displayed a beautiful passing game and in the end, i think they are the deserved winner. It was a dramatic ending and very much entertaining still despite the lack of goals. I'm glad Arjen Robben got the yellow card for his relentless complaint ( really he pissed me ( and the referee) off . never like that guy. cheater).

Farewell Africa waka waka :-)

* i think my baby is bound to be a football fan as well. He would just be kicking my belly like nobody business while mommy watching and cheering matches:P

special entry

" i luv u my fair n luvly wife "

not that he seldom tells it, but it has definitely lighten up my night.

in fact, over and over, everytime he utters such things.

je t'aime aussi mon mari cheri.

nite:)

Hi ho merry ho!

what a waste not to blog all these while when too many good memories gone uncaptured in writings. a quick update then.

1. I am currently posted in paediatric department. Frenzily working with babies. they are cute but sometimes can be annoying when you have to stuggle like hell to set a line for them. but all in all, it is fun to work when little babies revolves around you. makes you want to have your own, really.

2. Early pregnancy days, i was always tired. Energy treshold was very low. not so much of mood swing, more of euphoric swings actually, which is good:) and oh, I did not vomit even once. what a good baby in here. thanks for not making mommy suffers:P but certain smell really exagerrated my olfactory nerve e.g some foul smelling diabetic foot. erghh. made me nauseated whole day, had to take maxolon to get rid of it! yes , I had cravings too.

3. booking done at eleventh week. I am embarrased to say that I am not compliant to supplements when that was what i preached to every pregger i attended. well, not when i have to endure constipation because of hematinics! so nowadays, i sort of play doctor a little bit ( am i not one?;p ) Every now and then, i will take a look at my palm. so far it is still fairly pink. and my Haemoglobin level is still static 2 months in a row. so i guess i dont need the hematinics... just yet.

4. April was my birth month. I received a pleasant surprise ( was it?:P ) birthday treat from my now-very-fatherly husband at the revolving restaurant on the top of KL tower:) it was quite an experience. loving both the sentiment and the place. Hubby bought me a stunning Fred Perry peep-toe flats to wrap up the day. so Gorgeous!!


5.our little angel has begun kicking as early as 17 weeks. quite early for a primigravida ( first pregnancy), and nowadays the intensity is even harder. hmm a footballer/football fan in the making?hehe. you can team up with me honey:) (since my hubby is hardly a football observer, let alone a fan:P )

6. My entire household ( except for me, hubby and latest my dad) are going to perform Umrah this June. my dad has to cancel his trip due to working commitment. i obviously can't go due to my growing tummy. feel a bit sad as we couldn't go together as a family.

7.booked our obstetrician yesterday. if God willing, i plan to deliver in KPJ hospital. really hope baby wouldnt come out too early so we can get there in time when in labour. otherwise i may have to deliver in my working hospital which would defy the purpose that makes me want to deliver in private centre in the first place. we'll see...

8.today is mother's day! planned to bake a cake for my mother.my mother has also pre-planned a family photoshoot later today (and a subsequent Hyatt dine-out) as today is among the very few days when all of our siblings are around. i have to call hubby's mom too to wish her so:)
Happy mother's day! - oh by the way, i tried to make macarons the other day but failed miserably so now im planning to reuse the stuff i bought and change them into a cake.it'd better work!

the years long overdue blog update ( I wrote this while I was pregnant with harris)

quick update :

1. now posted in paediatric. Frenzy, but loving the specialists and babies. not liking the prolonged working hours and oncalls:(

2.baby has started kicking as early as 17 week. another football fan in the making? ha!;)

3. weaning to maternity wears now. proper tailored blouses still not ready:(

4.special birthday treat from now-very-fatherly hubby at revolving restaurant a pair of Fred Perry flat shoes;-)

All that I am

erm. I am very lazy to blog lately. which is a good thing i guess.

but since i have nothing better to do at the moment, perhaps i should crap a little.

Have you watched Glee? interesting. i love their third episode in particular. the single ladies dancings were HIGHlarious. love kurt hummel even though he's so gay. but i can't stand Lea Michell ( and her character). seriously Glee needs to replace her. she is one ugly and irritating narcicist. and yet she's the main actress! bleughhh.

must be the hormone loathing her.

Otherwise I am happy. I am fortunate. I am blessed. I am thankful. I am in love. I am complete.

I am Pregnant.

recepi of healthy lifestyle

at around 10.45 today :

palpitation.silence.tinge of happiness.happiness.broad grin.hesitation.broad grin.questioning the reality.grin again.scary.palpitation.happiness.confusion.happy

that's the recepi of healthy lifestyle for today:)

i love all of you:):)

The P News

One Hospital staff ( a cleaner to be exact) visited A&E clinic this morning accompanied by her mother. She is small sized, age 21, presented with vomiting for the past five days and lethargy. I was busy attending another patient when a medical assistant asked for my help to assess her hydration status. by checking her tongue and skin turgor, i concluded that she did not need to be intravenously hydrated.

Medical assistant : should I send a BUSE? (blood urea and serum electrolyte
- a biochemical investigation)

me : Sure. Do whatevs. (with the tone of one busy doctor. hohohoh)

then, 2 hours later, A staff nurse handed me the girl's card.With a result. which is not a buse result. But a urine pregnancy test. It was circled positive.

me : (gasp) I thought we only send A BUSE sample..

Staff nurse : I have a feeling it would turn out as it is now ( grinning)

then, we called the patient in :

Me : So You muntah2?

girl: yes. kenapa dgn saya doktor?

Me: You tinggal dgn siapa?

girl: dgn emak

Me : ada boyfriend? ( as i already know she's not married)

girl: sudah lama putus doktor

Me: ye ke? ujian air kencing you kate lain.

girl: kenapa doktor? ada kuman ka?

Me : ( dlm hati - tak, ada orang) . test yang kami buat ni menunjukkan awak mengandung.

girl : (dgn muka terkejut beruk) mana boleh doktor. Saya tadak Kawin lagi.

at this point, i feel like slapping her. this is the second time i received such exact response when told the P news. Will you people stop correlating pregnancy and marriage ? Not that I approve pre-marital sex but being unmarried does not biologically barricade you from making babies!

so, after prolonged interrogation, she finally admitted of having slept with the babydaddy last month, but only once ( yeah right:P)

after the consultation, the mother approached me.

girl's mother : Apa masalah anak saya doktor?

i looked at the girl and hesitated. she shooked her head behind her mom. I sighed.

Me : ada masalah dgn air kencing dia. lain2 you tanya dia sendiri ya.

i left. I hate to be in that situation. I must uphold to patient's confidentiality but at the same time I'm not supposed to lie. sometimes, it is best ( for my benefit) if the extramarital pregnancy involved underaged girls. I wouldn't have problem telling it straight to their mom :D . jahat kah? but then again.. they are even worse arent they???? ;-)