Ayisha's Aussie LIfe

We've been back in Sydney for almost 2 months now. Ayisha still refers Bali as her 'home' and where we're staying now is not 'home' but  'Grandma's house'. Then we confused her even more when we took her to our house here, where we'd go to clean & check out on weekends and where she'd enjoy the backyard with the little swing sets.

But now that the house is finally rented out, it's back to diverting her to 'Grandma's house' whenever she asked to go 'back to house with swings'. From time to time, she'd ask when we're going back to 'Bali house', to see her friends Freyjah & Teagan :( A few times she'd invite Abbey to her house; "my house is so far away, we go on a plane ok..I have lots of toys". Abbey said "yes" of course.

Day out to see Dora with Abbey

Showing off her Dora dress to...Dora!

Playing bubbles with Abbey on Mother's Day at the park

She's gotten really close with Abbey. Every once a week, Abbey & Jack are being sent to grandma's so the house is like a little play centre with  the 3 cousins being together all day long. Generally, they all get along pretty well. Ayisha's playing more with Abbey than Jack because according to her, "baby Jack's too small for me". Jack pretty much do his own things anyway but gets along great with Abbey.

Snack time at Grandma's daycare

tgk le anak sapa yg ngadap tv memanjang!

However, Ayisha did join Jack for his weekly swimming lessons.

Ayisha & Jack waiting for their turns

She's enjoying it in the beginning but then she started asking for her own arm band floaties and having mum and/or dad in the pool with her to play. We stopped going for a while because she's been a bit unwell few times and other times she just didn't want to go and I was not prepared to battle with her very early on a Saturday morning. So this one would definitely have to be Michael's duty if he still wants her to learn. :p

Every once a week, she also goes to an Occasional Care Centre about 10 mins away. Abbey goes there too so it helps tremendously when we first started sending her there. I like how flexible and quite affordable the centre is. We can pick what days and what hours we want to send her. All we have to do is call a week before to book in and pay as you go. I've only been sending her for 2 hours every time to start with and depending on how she is, might send her longer when the baby comes. Abbey goes for a full day, so I'm thinking she'd probably be ok as long as Abbey's there.

This place is very different from Little Stars in Bali. The environment definitely seems much more safe, with secure gates and safe playground areas with swings and slides just the right size. But I do notice that there's a lot of do-it-yourself involved.

Unlike Bali, I can't just drop her off & go. I have to put her snacks & drinks in the kitchen. Then her hat, jacket & bag separately at the right designated area. I am responsible for putting sunscreen on her and everything has to be labelled. I also have to be very careful with what I bring for her snacks - no nuts, no choking hazards bla bla. Even food in packets including yoghurt has to be transferred to a labelled container. At Little Stars I just handed over my child & the bag to the teachers. Sometimes I didn't even peel the mandarins. So manja!!

But the staff are just as lovely and so far we've been pretty happy with it.

In front of her school

Other than that, her usual days are pretty much the same - staying home with mummy, playing, chilling, and lots & lots of TV!

'helping' grandma

Lots of daddy time after work

almost time for bed

Btw, I'm still pregnant. According to Squeaky, the baby's coming 'tomorrow, tomorrow'. :p

Bad Hair Day

First of all, thanks so much for all the name suggestions! Our list is a bit longer now and tho we still haven't decided on a particular one, we hope by the time the baby comes we will know what to do.

Now, we're still waiting. 

Anyways, remember Squeaky?

Remember how worried we were about her (lack of) hair? Well now we have a different problem.

"What? Not my best side??"

It's totally out of control!

It doesn't really help that she doesn't like anyone touching her hair. Not even brushing with Dora hairbrush, tying with cute purple & pink ribbons, clipping with adorable teddies or princess hair clips. The only hair accessory that she would tolerate is hairbands. Which really doesn't make much difference when her hair is so wild, except for making her a teeny bit cuter.

"No touch my hair, please!"

The only time that her hair would look quite ok is after washing & conditioning but has to be followed with a hairbrush. I quite dread it cause it's always a drama. Big screaming matches because of her exaggerated 'awww sakit (painful)!!', 'ouch!! help me! help me!' - not a good impression if you're staying with your in-laws. So I'd have to be really quick with the brush.

The only time I get to properly brush and play (belai-belai gitu) with her hair like I always dream of with having girls, is when she's sleeping. Which doesn't help her appearance at all cause she wakes up looking like this anyway.

I don't wash her hair everyday here like I did in Bali because of the weather. She doesn't sweat much and  it's so cold!! Also, with my tummy situation I can't bend over for too long and endure a whole different  screaming match in the bathroom. I only wash it every few days or when we're going out, just to avoid the 'God! Doesn't she brush her daughter's hair?' look.

But lately, thanks to Grandma's anti-frizz hair cream, I don't even wash her hair anymore even if we're going out. Just slap some on and we're ready to go!!

Voila!!! 

However, it is becoming a problem cause as of today, her hair hasn't been washed for a week and I don't think the anti-frizz cream works as a de-tangler as well. Actually she did get a hair wash from daddy on the weekend but with no shampoo, no conditioner, no hairbrush because even Michael couldn't stand her screams. 

So unless the baby comes today, she's definitely going in the tub for a long hair treatment, no matter how bad the screaming gets! So, wish me luck.

"Hello, I need an appointment with a new hairdresser please"

The Last Week

I went for my last check-up yesterday. Everything's good. The baby has definitely turned and is facing the right direction. The heartbeat & movements are strong and there's not enough room for him to move all the way back up again. Just to stretch, kick and punch like crazy. 

 I also got my Group B Strep (GBS) results and just like my 1st pregnancy, it came back positive. I'm not sure if they do this test anywhere else but what it means is that I'd have to be on antibiotics during labour. It's actually a type of bacteria that about a quarter of women carry in the vagina and there's no symptoms. It doesn't affect me at all but can be quite harmful for the baby apparently. So the antibiotics are necessary to help prevent it being transferred to the baby. 

 I do have another check-up scheduled for the next 2 weeks, just in case the baby decided to hang around & chill in my belly for a bit longer but the midwife said because Ayisha came quite on time (only a day passed the due date), she thinks this time would probably be similar if not earlier. 

 I do have a feeling that it might come earlier. Just because my cycle has always been very regular and because Ayisha was not late. Or maybe it was just me wanting the baby to be a Taurus (like me) instead of a Gemini. Silly I know and not that there's anything wrong with a Gemini. I know lots of wonderful Gemini's and some of my best friends are too but the whole 2 personality thing freaks me out a little bit. Also, I feel like my star sign is much cooler than any others. hehehe. So if the baby comes this week, he'll be a Taurus just like me. But who knows. I was wrong plenty of times before. 

Like early in my pregnancy I thought it'd be a girl. But at the 20 week scan, I did find out and a lot of people know this already so it's not that big a surprise - we are having a boy! My tummy now is definitely nice & round like a basketball and he's moving a whole lot more than Ayisha, for sure.

                       

The reasons that I'm revealing this now is because 1) I forgot to make a big deal out of it in my blog when I 1st found out :p and 2) We don't have a NAME yet! So help!!!!!! 

 Seriously, we do not have a name. So anyone who happens to have an extra baby boy name, please do share it with us. We've got nothing. Ok, we do have a few (just a pathetic 2) thrown around back and forth but neither really grabbed us both. Also the fact that most names that we both like, were taken by hundreds of my nephews! Yes lah, I'm blaming my brothers & sisters :p Then there's names that Michael likes but I was a bit hesitant because a lot of my friends named their sons that and names that I like but Michael used to know that boy and this boy by those names and they're not the coolest kids in school so... urgh...It's so hard! 

 Ever since we found out, I've been googling & reading baby name books including the 50,000 Baby Names Around the World and ended up with nothing. I had a moment of panic the other day and went to the library (OMG, old school!) and borrowed more baby name books and still....NOTHING! 

If we can't come up with anything at all, Michael said he's going to call the baby Thomas (his dad) Hasmoni (my dad) Laidler. I was against it in the beginning but now that time's running out, I might as well be getting used to it. Oh, we also don't have a back-up, just-in-case girl names too. We're so bad. :( So don't be surprised if we still haven't got a name even after the baby's out!

Hospital bag ready to go, my homework & birthday cards from M'sia all received on the same day!

Older & Fatter

Last week I celebrated another birthday. Happy Birthday to Me! Oh, and I am still pregnant. About a week or so to go now and am getting fatter everyday. 

The last time I celebrated my birthday in Oz was 3 years ago, when I was a fatty too, pregnant with Ayisha. The weather's cold, chocolates & cakes aplenty, no guilt whatsoever in having my 3rd piece of cake on the same day and still having cake a week later. The baby needs it lah. 

 I think I mentioned before that when I hit the 30's, i seem to always forget how old I actually am when people ask about my age or when filling forms. I have to use my fingers to do the math. There's something about having kids too. When Ayisha came along, it was just so much more exciting to look forward to her birthday, her party & her presents. 

Having said all that, I love being loved and remembered on my birthday. This year was no different. I had a wonderful celebration. With Michael, birthdays are celebrated for at least a week. So I started getting my birthday surprises few days leading up to my birthday and few days after - with breakfast in bed, chocolates & flowers and a half day pampering session with our family friend/masseuse, Jess. 

On the day itself, I was showered with phone calls, sms'es and lovely & kind wishes and thoughts from family and friends. Had a nice night out with Michael to an African Restaurant and a comedy show by Akmal Salleh. 

I was hesitant at first because I thought Ayisha would be joining us for my birthday night. When she realised we're going out and she started putting her socks on and ran after me limping with only 1 shoe on to try & catch up, it was just heartbreaking. She was ok with Grandma & Poppy as soon as I was out the door of course. Then I made myself feel better by remembering how she was the first person that showered me with hugs & kisses & birthday wishes early that morning and presented me with a Sara Lee Mud Cake to 'help' me blow the candles just before we went out. 

Also, Michael & I haven't had a night out in ages and probably won't have any anytime soon. So, it was really wonderful and I'm truly glad we did. The next day Michael organised a Teppanyaki dinner at home with the Laidlers and more birthday cake with a whole load of chocolates made by my MIL. Again, felt really special and loved.

Lovely surprise delivery from my sister & her family all the way from KL!

I still need to use my fingers to make sure that was the right age!

My pregnancy is going along pretty well. At my last check-up, the midwife said that the baby has turned (phew!) but not engaged yet so the baby can still move around. I was quite relieved to hear that cos frankly, I haven't been doing much crab walking at all! Right now, the baby feels really really low. For the past few weeks, it was getting uncomfortable when I go for walks because I felt a very strong urge to pee all the time and sometimes the pressure felt like the baby's about to fall off. 

Now, I get those feelings whenever I stand up after sitting down. Not to mention it would take an extra hour trying to get out of bed or out of the car or even from a comfy couch. I am not over it yet tho. I am still happy to enjoy my last days of pregnancy. It's just getting more & more uncomfortable and difficult to move about, that's all. 

Ayisha is doing quite well. She had been acting up a little bit recently. Everytime she asked me if the baby's coming out soon and I'd say 'very soon!', she'd start acting like a little baby and calling herself a baby and wanting to drink from a bottle. Then there's times when she'd touch my tummy and kiss it and talk to it and making sure I'm all ok and asking if the baby's ok. 

It's getting a little bit harder to sit & lie down with her on the floor to play stuff like we used too and it's getting very uncomfortable to have her on my lap or to carry her that I kept finding myself saying 'no' to her a lot of times. So I have to remember to give her more attention in other ways and to NOT get too tired of playing 'pretend' with her these very last few days that I have before the baby arrives. 

I get a bit sad thinking about it but then when she kept asking me to count to 10 so she could hide at the same spot and shouted 'mummy, find me! find me!' over and over again very early in the morning, it's hard not to keep pretending I couldn't find her and go back to sleep. 

There's a lot about Squeaky that I wanted to talk about. Mainly just to remember the stuff that she's been doing, old & new, before we get super busy with the baby. I wanted to dedicate a whole new post for this but who knows when I'm going to get to blog again. Things like... 

 - how she would climb up from her bed to our bed, with eyes still closed, at about 6'ish almost every morning, then asked me to 'roll over please', and snuggle herself between me & Michael, then went back to sleep for another 1, 2 or even 3 hours if we're lucky. 

 - when she's ready to wake up, she'd ask 'is it sunny day yet'? She never believes me when I said no tho and would get up anyway. 

 - out of nowhere, she'd give me hugs & kisses with 'I love you's' and 'I miss you's'. It's one of the best feelings in the world!!! 

 - she says things like 'I can do my by itself' (I can do it by myself), 'that's mines' (that's mine), and she gets kitchen & chicken mixed up..kikikiki 

 - one day, she can be so sweet I could cry, ie. she's up late and Michael's already gone to work; 

 Ha: where's daddy? 

Me: gone to work already 

Ha: again? 

Me: daddy has to work lah, so we can buy your milk, buy your toys... 

Ha: but I already have my toys. I want daddy - (insert her sad, wanting to cry face here)

- another day, she could make me wanna cry but for a totally different reason, ie. when she fights with her cousins; 

 Me: say sorry please (normally she would say sorry even if it's a half-hearted dragging 'sorrrr-ry'. But the other day...) 

Ha: No! (hands on her mouth) I can't talk... (ieee...geramnya!!) 

There's lots more about her that I want to remember but I do need to go to sleep now. Till next time!

 Ayisha and the new baby - they're holding hands can't you tell? :p

Still in training

Missing..

The other day, I took the train to the city for an appointment. Just me. Probably the first time, by myself, since Ayisha was born. 

Such a weird feeling. I wasn't dreading it although I had to get up very early, even before Squeaky got up, to catch the train. I was pretty excited actually. Dressing up (means not just a t-shirt), put a little bit of make-up on (means moisturise & bit of neutral lip colour). It reminded me of my days getting ready to work and waiting for the train like all other office attire wearing people around me. At that point, I couldn't believe that I actually kinda missed it.

Going into the city was great too. Reminded me of how I loved working in the city. I missed my office which used to have a magnificent view of Darling Harbour. I missed walking through the shops and malls to & from the train station. I missed the lunches & dinners around the city with my colleagues and friends working in the city. I started thinking about the possibility of maybe going back to work again, especially if we're going to stay in Sydney.

I only spent about 2 hours in the city then it was time to go home. I called home before catching the train to tell Michael I'm on my way then I heard a sound in the background 'who's that? who's that? is that mummy?' Michael put her on and she said:

'Hi mummy!!! I miss YOU!!!!!!!'

I almost cried. 

All the thoughts that I had earlier on vanished in just a second. I rushed to the station and just could not wait to get home.

I don't know if it's the train or the city or the work that I missed. Maybe just the very act of going to work. Or most probably, it's having that bit of freedom that I used to have that I was actually missing. However I do know with absolute certainty that I would miss Ayisha a million times more if I actually do go back to work.

To me, staying at home to be a full time mum is a whole lot more work than office work, at least for the jobs that I've been in anyway. But if we're fortunate enough to be in a situation where I am able to stay home for Squeaky #2, I would do it all over again. 

Of course, when I got home, Ayisha was giving me hugs & kisses every 2 minutes and telling me how much she loves me. Well ok, the mini macaroons that I bought for her at the train station (see what I've been missing? Macaroons at the station!) may have caused that. But still, I think she really really really missed me that morning as much as I missed her! :)

Crabwalk Model

As requested...

We couldn't get a video cos like me, Ayisha fell flat on the ground too after moving her hands and feet sideways hehehe.

Crab Walking at 34 Weeks

Yesterday, I had my 1st booking in appointment at the hospital that I'm going to give birth in - a public hospital in the Shire about 15 mins from home, the same one we went to when we had Ayisha.

It's obviously very late for a 1st appointment but they understood that we've been living in Bali and happily accepted us anyway.

I haven't given birth anywhere else in the world so I couldn't really compare but I had such a lovely & pleasant experience with Ayisha the last time, I really didn't mind having it here again. The midwives were wonderful and took great care of us all. It made me feel a tiny bit guilty that it doesn't cost us anything - it's all free!

The appointment went quite well. Everything's going along pretty nicely but apparently the baby is in a breech position (head up, bottom down). It's not a major concern yet as according to Cindy, the midwife in charge, there's still time and room for the baby to move to a desired position. But if that doesn't happen by the next appointment, about 3 weeks from now, they might have to try move it manually and if that doesn't work then a caesarean section would have to be booked in.

I'm not so worried about it yet. Ok, I was terribly worried at the time but because Cindy assured me that it's quite common and there's still plenty of time for the baby to move, plus the fact that the baby's actively moving, she's pretty confident it will all be ok. So that made me feel ok too lah.

In the meantime, Cindy suggested crab-walking to help baby move into position, she even did a demo. How? Feet planted on the ground with bended knees, hands on the back with your butt lifted up. Then move your hands & feet sideways, you know, just like a crab. I just did it 30 mins ago. Not easy. I could only move 4 times to the left & 4 to the right, not even a minute passed by. Then I felt the baby moving like crazy and my butt fell flat on the ground.

I felt a lot more movement with this one compared to Ayisha. Last time, Ayisha only moved mildly and I remembered she moved a lot on the right side, very consistently that the very rare occasion when I felt a bump on my left, I got all super excited and carried away.

This time, it's up, down, left, right and all around. Very active. You know how you read about mums saying how they felt the baby's foot is kicking and the elbow's punching etc? I'm not one of those. I honestly do not know which one's which. I don't know if the weird looking shape poking & protruding my tummy is the baby's elbow or the foot or bum or what. But I felt it all the time, all day long. It's nice :)

I only have 2 more check-up appointments to go, unless if there's any problems or if the baby's overdue. Then it's labour time! Erk.. Not very long to go now. I've actually just started to organise & pack my hospital bag, which according to the checklist provided, should be done about 4 weeks ago. Haih...

Anyways, I hope it will all be ok and everything will go on smoothly & safely for us. In the meantime, gotta put my crab-walking moves on!