Red-Blooded

Pic googled

I hate having my blood sample taken. I am such a wuss and such a scaredy-cat. I had my blood sample taken for the first time few years ago and half of my arm went blue. I have nasty veins and I never donated any blood because I don't like the sight of it.

And now I have to have my blood samples taken many times by the midwife. The first time the midwife took my blood sample there were 4 bottles she had to fill in, she was swaying my arm up and down to increase the flow into the ugly bottles! At first I showed her my almost non-existent vein and she said 'my that was a tough one, we will make a few tries on the vein if not we will refer you to the Blood Department they are the experts'. You can imagine my horrific face.

But she was quite an elderly midwife and must have thousands of blood samples taken throughout her career, she got it the first try *phew*.

She was also very comforting and consoling too. I looked away the minute I rolled up my sleeve, my husband was laughing away the whole time joking about my situation with another male intern present at that time. The midwife was the only one with the kind heart *killer stare at husband*. Throughout the whole time she was saying 'Darling you are doing great' and 'Here is our supergirl' and 'Well done supergirl we are proud of you'. I feel like a 6-year old *shy* but it did help, those words :D

Even so, not looking forward for more blood tests...

*How la want to beranak later?* :-S

Nub Theory or Skull Theory?

My 12 + 6 week scan pic

In the UK, the frequency of ultrasound scan does not come too often. Majority of the pregnant moms in the UK get only 2 scans in the whole of their pregnancy period, one is at 12 to 13 weeks (dating scan - to estimate your EDD by the size of your foetus) and another is at 20th week (anomaly scan - to see if the baby is developing normally).

Unlike in Malaysia, the private clinics and hospitals charge you a bomb if you want to have a private scan, ranging from GBP99 to GBP299 (you can get a good travel system for your baby for that price!)

I know some people at my stage back home who already had 3 or more scans...at the price of RM50 per session, I would have a scan every 2 weeks myself just to put my mind at ease, that the baby is well. Cos right now you just don't feel the baby moving yet... Some people might feel 'flutters' but if this is your first pregnancy you normally would not realize these 'flutters'.

Anyway, when the scans come rare you try all the different ways to know that your baby inside is safe. And whether it is a boy or a girl? Some hospitals just don't offer to tell you the sex of your baby during the 20th week scan while on the other hand some hospitals do tell you.

Well who can wait until 20th week scan to find out?! And to find out that the hospital refused to reveal the gender...

By the way there is this new ruling (still in draft resolution) from the Council of Europe Committee suggesting doctors should not reveal the sex of unborn babies, in a bid to stop gender selective abortions. What the....I think it is a right for all parents to know the gender of their babies don't you think!

That is when I found out of the 2 theories to predict the gender of your baby from the dating scan pic.

Nub Theory

At around the 11/12 week scan at the end of the baby's body you can see a little bump (nub). The girl nub angle is less than 30deg and for a boy the angle is 30deg and over. Not 100% as some scan pics are hard to see a nub on (but is more accurate than those Chinese predictions). Click here if you want to understand the difference between a girl and a boy's nub.

My scan pic that I got the nub is not clear, at that time I wasn't aware of this theory so I did not ask the sonographer to get a clear view of the nub... but from the pic you can make a real wild guess I suppose...

Skull Theory

A male skull is longer and the forehead slants much more. Also, the chin of a female is pointier than that of a male. You can read on here for better understanding on skull theory.

Now...back to the scan pic...any guesses anyone?! :D

I Love Freebies!

Money off and free product vouchers, many free samples, books, magazines, etc. And more to come in the mail!

Ramadhan Foodie Pics

Hello... Been quite some time since I last put some food pics. These food were prepared throughout the fasting month, that time I was not so well due to morning sickness... I mostly crave for Malaysian food, which is susah la kan cos you can't just buy them kat UK ni kan unlike M'sia boleh pi ja ke pasar Ramadhan. And I was too lazy to cook plus I can't go into the kitchen and cook or I'll get nauseous...

Nasik kerabu, murtabak, kuih2 including buah melaka, masalodeh and cara berlauk etc... Ni bukan masak sendiri, ni beli kat Pasar Ramadhan kat UK ni ya... (dia buat 3 kali ja sepanjang Ramadhan ). Food was not that cheap, spent more than GBP20 for the above...

Baked mushrooms, the mushrooms are as big as your palm

Nothing new, roast chicken with stuffed rice

Murtabak maggi... LOL

Karipap (ignore the kelim yang besar duit syiling tu)

Seri muka (this one my husband yang buat dia yg teringin sgt but the green color is too artificially bright)

Nasik daging utara...with daging rebus and air asam...

Tu ja. Masa bulan puasa tinggal puasa banyak hari jugak, because I got hungry all the time! If I don't eat I feel nauseous, I got to munch something every 2 hours. Plus it was summertime, we fasted from 4am to 9pm almost. But good thing I never vomited not even once, alhamdulillah. Nevertheless it was a difficult time for me :( banyak nak kena ganti ni nanti...

13 + 5

Me on Hari Raya 30th August.

Mind you, perut tu...sebab makan banyak sangat ye...

But, I suppose can always blame on the baby bump =)

Dry Season

Bismillahirrahmaanirraheem....

Pic googled.

Hope my dry skin condition will significantly improve after consuming this! Heard too many good reviews from my close friends. Mmg mempengaruhi betul! Too bad they are only sold in South-East Asia. Takpa try dulu, tah2 no effect on me pun. But these things aren't cheap!

Hate the dry skin, regardless how many glasses of water I've consumed. I've just changed skin care range as well.

Any other tips?

Madness

March went by without any entries!

Thanks to those who enquired and requested for an update hu hu tak sangka ada orang rindu >.<

Yes! I have been very busy... I started my new job early March and things get on full swing from then on. From the day I start I got to move, move, move I haven't even got the time to understand the Company's background and yet I have to manage a team doing things I'm not quite familiar myself... Nightmare? Yes. So I have to learn like really quickly. Just that I have one tiny little problem. My brain has stopped functioning since last August. I haven't done any heavy-duty thinking and problem-solving since then. That's a good 6 months of brain inactivity! My daily conversation that took place in my head over the past 6 months are "harini nak makan apa?" or "apa nak masak harini?" or "cerita apa syok kat TV tah, nak check TV program sat la" or things similar to that.

It took me a while to get my brain to function like a normal working adult (not yet 100% functioning though). There are times when I stare blackly at the laptop screen...or find myself doodling during daily meetings...or yawning more than 10 times in the span of 20minutes of a teleconference...Despite all that, I seriously enjoy what I am doing. The whole exercise is very interesting, really...

Not to mention the long daily commute to work! Where I work it's 42miles (approx. 65km) from where I live. Bought a used car at the last minute and the first few weeks was a gamble really, as we do not know the service history of the car. Anything could happen on the road (they drive like mad people here), and I would not know who to call if anything should happen, for we are in a foreign country. I'm sure my husband too would not know what to do if I call him. Takkan dia nak naik bus mai kat I kat motorway pulak kan... So far it's been a month alhamdulillah nothing bad had happened. We got to get the car serviced soon, I noticed there is a problem with the fuel injector...sometimes tekan fuel pedal minyak tak masuk...scary!

Nevertheless it's a nice drive to work, the view is sooo pretty especially now that it's spring. That 1-hour drive is the time of the day when I'm lost in my thoughts or singing off-key to my favorite songs or listen to some motivational ceramah or update myself with current news or simply treat my eyes to the swanky flashy cars UK people drive... Unlike M'sia where you mostly see Protons and Peroduas... Here more like convertible Audis and BMWs and Porsches *heart melts*. Mesti syok kan drive convertible car pi balik kerja...*alamat 2 jam baru sampai ofis, mesti kena bawak slow 30mph takkan nak bawak laju2 habih melayang telekung semua LOL*

Oh yeah...I wake up early too these days...to make allowance for the 1-hour drive, and another hour to get ready *yawns* So balik rumah in the evening tu you can imagine la...mmg tumbang awal la. Nowadays I only cook express or simple meals. So, please don't be disappointed if I don't tempt you with my foodie pics ha ha ha (mcm la byk sgt masak pun). And hubby has been really sweet to cook as often as he could.

Enough updates! Here is a pic of us both enjoying spring!

Walaupun isteri dah jarang masak makanan menggemukkan, suami tetap bulat comel he he he.