pregnancy
May 11th, 2013

Welcoming Daphne

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We finally welcomed Daphne, weighing 2.69kgs. Our little petite girl. She gave a little shout when she came out and then quietly stared and looked around while I was stitched up. The hubs couldn’t concentrate on bubba because he was rather worried about me. More on that later.

We are still adjusting to the new schedule. I am fully breastfeeding her and it is definitely one of the most challenging thing that I have to do. I surprised myself with my stubbornness in wanting to ride through this. I really thought that I would have succumbed to formula milk. It helps to have a supportive husband and a surprisingly supportive mother too. <3

I'll write about my breastfeeding challenges in another post. I have about 1/2 hour before the princess wakes up and I need my sleep.

Welcome baby girl! You bring tears of joy. Sometimes I silently cry looking at you because I can’t believe we made you and we are blessed to have you. Grow up well, kiddo. And please, don’t frown so much lah. Your Ah Ma don’t like. :)

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April 5th, 2013

Pregnancy: Honestly?

Honestly? I am uncomfortable. Sleeping in whatever position I want is out of the question now. I’ve been sleeping so much on my left that my neck is aching. The heat coupled with hot flushes is unbearable. Sitting is uncomfortable. Walking is tiring.

It’s now a waiting game. In my mind, I would love to have bubs now but my heart is saying let her stay a little longer.

Whatever it is, I am uncomfortable. And the blardy heat isn’t helping either.

Still, once this is over, I am gonna miss being pregnant! Just me and bubs.

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April 1st, 2013

Review: Avalon Organics Scalp Normalizing Shampoo

Review: Avalon Organics Scalp Normalizing Shampoo (Tea Tree Mint Therapy)

Price: RM22.60 ($7.29)

Bought from: iHerb.com

What I think? * * * * *

I’ve always had an issue with my head. Tsk, silly me. I meant scalp. :)

For the longest time, I’ve had itchy scalp, bad hair fall and dandruff! It really doesn’t matter if I have short or long hair, I get these all the time. Once, when I went to get my hair cut, I was explaining to my hairdresser that I get dandruff and my hair falls quite a lot. Instead of recommending me a product from the shop, he told me that I needed a shampoo that will help heal my scalp, not the hair. He says my hair is healthy but my scalp is not. So with that information at hand, I went about looking for a shampoo that can heal my scalp.

I’ve tried everything. From commercial brands like Sunsilk and Head & Shoulders to Kerastase which is high end shampoo. The commercial ones didn’t work of course. Instead, I drop more hair than I normally would. My hair would dry out and become really frizzy.

Kerastase on the other hand works for my hair fall but didn’t stop the dandruff. After all, the one I bought was for hair fall. So every few days, I would still have to use Head & Shoulders to curb my dandruff. H&S is the only shampoo that successfully stops my dandruff but the chemicals are so strong, I drop a lot of hair as well.

Finally, I decided to look for one on iHerb. I came across Avalon because of it’s many ratings and reviews. It is relatively cheap comparing to the standard commercial brands here in Malaysia. It is about RM22.60 if you buy from iHerb. Even with shipping, it’s pretty affordable for a 14 oz bottle. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you get to buy for even less! It’s 70% organic which is great that means I don’t have to constantly worry about the harsh chemicals.

So I bought a bottle to try.

Now after a month, I am proud to say that I’ve only used Avalon and nothing else. I don’t have dandruff, little to no hair loss and no itchy scalp! I did a scratch test on the scalp and there’s nothing on my finger nails. Normally, if I have dandruff, I get bits of flaky scalps under my nails and I hate that. So this is turning out to be pretty amazing.

I love the smell. It’s tea tree but the smell isn’t as intense as you think it will be. It’s quite light. The thing I like about this shampoo is that it doesn’t dry out my hair like any commercial shampoos would if I use it without conditioner. Avalon is not a 2 in 1 therefore it has no conditioner in it but my hair feels absolutely soft and silky after wash.

I don’t use it everyday. I don’t have oily skin, in fact, I have very dry skin. So excess washing of hair will strip the natural oils on my scalp. I wash it every two days once. Sometimes three, if the weather isn’t as insane as this.

If you have itchy scalp, dandruff and/or hair loss, I recommend you give this little baby a try! Even the hubs is telling to get more of this and since it’s 70% organic and free from harsh chemicals, I may get more just to stock up.

If you are interested in getting some stuff from iHerb, you can use my referral code. You get $10 off from your total if you exceed $40 but no more free shipping. It’s a flat rate of $4 (for less than 1.8kg) now for international shipping but $4 is a pretty good deal considering these imported stuff in Malaysia costs 40%-60% more than iHerb!

REFERRAL CODE: SGT490

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March 28th, 2013

Cloth diapers: Part 2

With bub’s impending arrival in less than a month’s time, I have been busy trying to stock up cloth diapers so that I can try cloth diapering her in her 2nd month. Being recently made redundant, we now have an option for me to remain as a stay-at-home-mom until bubs is 8-10 months old so I am absolutely looking forward to taking care of her on my own! So cloth diapering makes more sense now that I get to try out without having to educate the babysitter.

I have bought a couple of brands and of course, can’t do a proper review yet of how absorbent or if they leak yet. So I thought it might be cool to show you my stash! Wow wee!

I was careful not to buy too many of one brand just in case the brand doesn’t fit bubs well. So at most I bought about three to test.

Here is the stash! I’ve got:

  • 2 Geboo (AI2)
  • 3 Autumnz (Pocket)
  • 3 Weegro (AI2)
  • 2 Grovia (AI2)
I haven’t tried any yet. The only thing I have done so far is pre-washed them.

 

Geboo (Make your own starter pack: RM125)

Geboo was the first brand I bought. I love the designs so much that I knew I had to get them. I took a plunge buying it though because I couldn’t find any reviews anywhere and the package I bought was pretty good. Oh well, no harm..right?

Well, lets see. The service was bad enough that I may not even buy from them again. I purchased the diapers from their online store. After I made payment, I did not hear from them until 2 days later to tell me that Citylink will be picking up the package on the 14th of January. Their website did state that the package will be delivered the next day after payment is made. I bought on the 10th and 14th was a Monday.

On January 21, a week later, I have yet to receive my package. Since the day they said my package was picked up, I’ve tried tracking my package with the number they have provided but it always came back as an error. I thought it could be just Citylink. I actually dropped them a comment via their website on the 17th to inquire but received no reply.

I finally tried calling them on their mobile and landline. Their landline is out of service and no one picked up the mobile. *screams*

I got a little freaked out now cause I’ve paid them and haven’t received anything and on top of that, couldn’t get hold of them!

So I got on to their Facebook page and dropped a message on their wall. Finally they replied!

At last, a few days later, I received my package. But the experience was pretty horrendous that I really don’t think I would want to buy from them anymore. Someone in the mummies forum on FB said she’s used Geboo and the winged soaker isn’t great and it leaks so I’ll have to try it on bubs to see. Lucky I bought only 2 of Geboo.

Autumnz (RM39.90 per diaper with two inserts)

This is the only pocket diaper I bought mainly for the convenience of the babysitter. I didn’t think the babysitter would like it very much changing wet soakers on AI2s since they are pretty much used to disposables. I had initially wanted to convert the Autumnz into AI2s and even bought the buttons and bamboo fleece to top the microfibres. In the end, I decided to give pocket diapers a try before modifying it.

I am also not denying that the printed designs are awfully cute! I was tempted to get all the cute pink girly ones but soon decided against it because if 2nd bub is a boy, pink may not be so suitable!

Weegro (RM23 per diaper)

Weegro is one of the cheapest AI2 I’ve found so far. It’s pretty much a no frills diaper. It comes with just a waterproof cover and microfibre inserts with bamboo fleece socks so you can stuff the inserts into it before you snap it on the covers. The designs are absolutely adorable but some moms have said that Weegro didn’t really fit their kid and it leaks. So I’ve got to try it out before I decide to buy more!

Grovia (RM47.50 from Grovia Asia FB)

This is by far the best in terms of quality. Even before I try it on bubs, the workmanship and quality is simply amazing. I bought mine (shell and soaker) for RM47.50 from their FB site. It’s the cheapest so far so I may even get more of this. I’ve heard only good things about Grovia. The only bad thing is that it is expensive! But if Grovia Asia keeps it this low, I will definitely get them. Unfortunately, the additional soakers costs RM65 for two.

The services I got from Autumnz, Weegro and Grovia are pretty standard. Items came within 3 days of package delivery. Grovia Asia only sends out the packages on Monday so do expect a delay if you make your order mid week.

 

Here is how I currently store my AI2s. It’s just a fabric box I bought in Ikea. I doubt it will be enough when I stock up more. My pocket diapers are stored in another fabric box.

Hopefully, cloth diapering will go well with bubs. Since I get to stay at home, I can experiment and will be around to wash up all the laundry. It will be an interesting time for me. Am really looking forwards to labour now and can’t wait for bubba to arrive!

My next batch of cloth diapers to buy would be Flip AI2s and possibly try out some AIOs as well. Maybe Simplex since a friend of mine says it’s pretty good. Itti Bitti Tutto is also in my list to try but I’ll buy that much later.

More updates to come when bubba starts wearing them!

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March 14th, 2013

Pregnancy: Single digit weeks left

We are now down to a couple of weeks left and I am beginning to panic.

No, I am not panicking about the birth or becoming a mother or whether we are ready or not. I am actually panicking cause I have been procrastinating on my work and now I am just rushing to finish it before I go. Serves me right.

Bubba's clothes

We have started to wash bubba’s clothes. These days, the weather is just great for washing clothes! I even washed bubba’s cloth diapers and it’s now ready to be used second month onwards. I’ve bought a couple of cloth diapers. So far, Grovia looks like the best based on touch and feel. The quality looks amazing. I bought Autumnz, Geboo and Weegros. I had a terrible experience buying from Geboo but I will do that post next time.

Baby shower

The team had a surprise baby shower for me when another one of my teammate was due in January. The diaper cake on the left is mine and the one on the right was done by me for my colleague. The cake is this awesome red velvet, cream cheese topping! It was baked by another colleague. I love the size of the cake, just right for tea time. I didn’t expect this so this shower came as a pleasant surprise! :)

Cream and Fudge ice creams

Cravings came back again in third trimester. I have been craving for ice creams lately. The other day, I had ice creams at Tong Pak Fu and ever since then, I have been craving for that. We were celebrating a birthday in the team and so we decided to do something different and went for ice creams instead during tea break. We tried Cream and Fudge in Alamanda and they are surprisingly good! Mine is some caramel and brownie ice cream. I was afraid that it’s gonna be a bit thick but it’s light and refreshing. Not as light as Tong Pak Fu’s but better than Baskins!

Baby crib

And finally, everything is starting to come together! This, is my baby crib. Mine, as in the one I slept in when I was a kid! It survived 4 kids (my two sisters and I as well as my eldest nephew) and it’s still standing strong. I loved that Speedy Gonzales!

Hubs suggested a coat of paint but I kind of like the old vintage look. When he looked over on the other side and noticed the Donald Duck sticker, he says ok to no painting it. You don’t need ten guesses to know he likes Donald Duck. :)

We’ve bought cute stickers to decorate the wall where the crib will be so once that’s done, I’ll post it up!

It’s now slowly becoming a reality. After 1.5 years of waiting, it’s finally going to happen. It’s scary and exciting at the same time and we can’t wait to have bubba in our arms.

Although, truth be told, I am going to miss pregnancy. I am going to miss being the only one bubba communicates with and anticipating her every moves. I mean, I can’t wait to share bubba with the hubs but I am sure going to miss the 9 months. Yes, nausea and all. Can’t wait!

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February 20th, 2013

Happy Chinese New Year

Technically, I am not late. I am still within the 15 days so, Happy Chinese New Year everyone! This year, in 2 months time, we will be having a water snake baby. Right now, she’s snaking her way in here quite a bit!

This Chinese New Year isn’t as hyped up as it was in previous years. I used to look forward to going back for CNY and hanging out with the family but this year, up until the day itself, the hubs and I just felt like it was just like any other day. Even with the days leading up to it, I just felt super lazy and left the ang pao packing to the very last minute!

As usual, the hubs’ side has tons to do before the 1st day and so they were tasked to do household chores while I get to relax a little. I did the little things like decorating and *ahem* packing my ang paos (cause I was lazy before). Eh hello, my decorations all nice ones k, just that no one said anything about it being nice lah. :P

The cousin-in-laws arrived and we had a good time catching up. The last time I saw them, I was still in my first trimester so I’ve really ballooned up since then.

This is the first time we are confining both the dogs in a single cage. Dexter was very curious about the cage that Rosco is always in so when he went to check it out, the FIL nudge him in and he sat there looking all comfortable. Rosco came in a few seconds later and they lasted in harmony almost throughout the open house. Halfway through, some kids demanded to see the dogs so we let them out for a quick run and to stretch about.

We dropped by PD for a nice dinner with the MIL’s side of the family and managed to capture this view with the 360 photo app on the iPhone.

And because I was craving for banana cake, I made two batches of it. I gave half of a batch away to my family and devoured the other batch. This has got to be the most yummiest banana cake I’ve ever made. I will do a post with recipe soon about this.

All in all, my CNY wasn’t so exciting. I am guessing next year, it will be! I’ll need a gps tracker installed on bubs before CNY. :)

Hope you guys had a great one. We have two more months to go to finish up all our shopping and preparation! After that….it’s no longer the same anymore.

**everything here is taken with an iPhone**

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January 31st, 2013

Pregnancy: 26 weeks

Here’s a quick one. Here I am at 26 weeks with one of bub’s onesies. Didn’t think I looked any bigger than before but when I lined up all my past baby bump pictures, you can see it growing (duh!).

Can’t wait….can’t wait!

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January 21st, 2013

Pregnancy: Going into 3rd trimester!

It’s been a while since I did a baby update. The last one was at 20 weeks! We are now at 27 weeks, one more week till we officially reach third trimester!

Second trimester was somewhat smooth sailing. Some food aversions came back (hello steamed chicken!) and nausea every now and then but generally, I started eating for two and gained 4.5 kgs in total at last count. Baby has been growing on track with a nice size and her features are now much more defined when we did the last two 3d scans.

Here is bubs at 24 weeks looking all cute! At that point, she weighed a healthy 547g and mummy is looking fantastic with enough amniotic fluid. But, I have been having pretty bad water retention at times though. I noticed that if I walked less during the day, my ankles will swell up like a tree trunk!

She’s been active! She kicks much harder now and hubs can really see the tummy moving. I had baby put on a show for the great grandma and grand aunties and they loved it! :) You can absolutely tell, she’s gonna be a pampered little princess. Now that I am nearing third trimester, she kicks less but moves about, like a wave inside you. It feels funny at first but I got used to it and can’t wait to feel her move about again.

We’ve also started Hypnobirthing classes with Nadine Ghows and it has been a great eye opener so far –  so much so that Hubby came out from the first class with a positive take on home birth (unassisted birth). We’ve just gone into our second class and about another four more classes to go. I am now less afraid of the actual day and hopefully, I am able to practise what I have learnt to have a natural birth.

Wondering what our doctor will think about it, we approached the subject the last time we met him and Dr Loo has never delivered a baby through Hypnobirthing at all. But he was very open to the idea and is interested to look at our birth plan. He asked very relevant questions and didn’t reject the idea at all, so things are looking more positive now. We even have a hospital picked out so we will be requesting for a tour soon.

Here is bubs at 27 weeks. She wasn’t having a good day. Around this time, I had pre term contractions that was 2-5 minutes apart. This is definitely not a good sign so off to the doctor’s we went and found out I have infections which is causing the contractions. Was given medication to cure it and advised to take lots of plain yogurt and Yakult to help keep the infections at bay. I was also given medications to stop the contractions and 4 days of MC (I saved 2 days because of the weekends).

A day later, contractions got further apart and bubs started moving around again. She will kick and do the Mexican wave all together so hubs and I are relieved that bubs is doing fine again.

The Pee Machine

Lately, I’ve been a peeing machine. I’d get out of the toilet and will have to ponder for a bit if I needed to go again. Now I totally understand what Rachel meant when she was pregnant in Friends. Hubs was tickled to see me constantly complaining about needing to pee. :)

So, three more months till we get to see our little bubba! Am pretty excited to see who she looks like. In the meantime, we’ve to practice our birth breathing while working on number 2 in the toilet!

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January 13th, 2013

The Last Polka

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Was at Jaya One today and after having dinner at Marufuku, I told the hubs I wanted to stock up some ice creams for my “rainy day”. So we stopped by The Bee’s to get a couple of The Last Polka ice creams.

This is my second time eating the ice cream and I absolutely love it! They are made by two lovely girls and it’s delicious. They have a variety of flavours but my favourite will still be Salted Gula Melaka!

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Since we wanted to try the other flavours, we bought 4 different kinds. The Rum and Raisins is for the hubs. Was tempted to get Guiness but I can’t possibly have them.

The next time I go back, I’d like to try Pandan Kaya and Teh Tarik.

So the next time you want good homemade ice creams that is not too creamy yet refreshing, go get yourself one from The Last Polka, only at selected restaurants. You can find them here:

  • The Bee (Jaya One & Publika)
  • Marmalade (Bangsar Village II & Publika)
  • WHISK Espresso Bar + Bake Shop (Empire Gallery & 1 Utama)
  • The Tea Republic (Bangsar Shopping Centre)
  • Simply Mel’s (The Sphere, Bangsar South)
  • Fat Spoon (Damansara Uptown)
  • The Warehouse Gallery & Cafe / Ril’s Steakhouse (Jalan Tun HS Lee)
  • Mollydooker’s (Damansara Heights)
  • Sri Penaga Condominium (Bangsar)
  • Artisan Roast (Bangsar Village II)
  • Fierce Curry House (Jalan Kemuja, Bangsar Baru)
Check them out here:

Have fun with your Last Polka!

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January 4th, 2013

iHerb stash #1

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Imported goods are always very expensive in Malaysia. Finally going into 3rd trimester soon, I started looking at things to get for bubs that is organic especially lotions/balms that I need to put on bubs itself.

Almost all the mummies in the forum I am in have been getting their imported organic stash from iHerb.com. Seeing that I can get $10 off from my total receipt if I exceed $40 and above as well as free shipping for $40 above and less than 1.8kg, I decided to make the best of that and order a stash of goods for bubs and myself.

I bought two things for when I’ve delivered; Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Balm and Earth Mama Angel Baby Natural Nipple Butter.

Having heard horror stories of mothers who breastfeed suffering from chapped nipples, I decided to look up the remedy for it. Many recommended EMAB Nipple Butter. It’s safe for baby because of its natural ingredients so there is no need to wash it off before you breastfeed your little one.  The EMAB Baby Bottom Balm is for bubs in hopes of avoiding the wrath of diaper rash! I was thinking of this or Badger Company’s Baby Balm. Having read good reviews of EMAB, I decided to go with that. You can easily get EMAB products here but I think Badger Company is finally trickling in.

I dumped the Badger Company Headache Soother into my cart as well. After reading the reviews in iHerb, I thought I’d give it a try since I always get migraines/headaches/tensions and I really want to stop using ‘minyak angin’. Seeing that it’s lavender and peppermint, it should help me when I feel nauseous too.

Lastly, I bought some caffeine free tea for my third trimester and one for now when I want to sip something hot at work. The third trimester tea is made from raspberry leaves, supposedly good in preparation for labour. I heard of some mummies who has mild contractions when taking raspberry leaf tea so I need to be careful when I take them and monitor.

Oh, I popped in a lip balm because mine ran out. I get chapped lips easily because I sit in the office all day and sleep in an air conditioned room. So hopefully this lip balm is good for me!

All in all, I only paid $39.91. That is inclusive of the $10 off by using a referral coupon and because I ordered above $40 and less than 1.8kg, I get free shipping too! My stash was shipped out on 12.12.12 and I received it on 3.1.13. Not too bad. My box was sealed so it wasn’t opened by customs either.

If you are interested in getting some stuff from iHerb, you can use my referral code. You get $10 off from your total if you exceed $40 but no more free shipping. It’s a flat rate of $4 (for less than 1.8kg) now for international shipping but $4 is a pretty good deal considering these imported stuff costs 40%-60% more than iHerb!

REFERRAL CODE: SGT490

Have fun shopping! I am going to get some stuff for Rosco and some bathing goods for me and bubs too so more later when I do order!

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