No. 2

I posted this on Facebook some time last week and many shared the joy and I could tell that many were really surprised, too.

*Wahh second one already?*

I received many personal messages about this and what can I say? Alhamdulillah, syukur! Allah's rezeki! Well, I guess, the one person who's most surprised with this news was me myself.

Remember the post I wrote last Ramadhan about my menstrual cycle 'playing hide and seek' with me? Well, that's because I have already conceived at that time :) I could have fasted full the whole month if it's not for the spotting which appeared on the last day of Ramadhan (which I thought was my period) and I was relieved. Only it was short-lived as I was clear the next day and the days after which led me to buy the pregnancy test kit.

I wasn't exactly all hyped and thrilled when the double line appeared on the stick. I didn't know what I was feeling exactly at that time. But I remembered hubster was over the moon when I came out of the hotel toilet during our Raya vacation in Malacca a few months back and handed him the proof.

I was feeling and thinking a lot of things, mainly revolving Luqman. Like how he has to be a big brother at such a young age (calculatively, he would be 1y4m when this baby will be delivered insyaAllah), how I might have to stop breastfeeding him, will I be able to cope handling him while I am carrying another one etc. I questioned my husband how could this be because we have planned. I guess I was frustrated. At that, hubby stopped me and he said do not question Allah's fate. This is the ultimate rezeki, so be thankful. Astaghfirullahalazim! Why do I have to question it? And it was from there that I began to be more emotionally stabled. I told myself be grateful and embrace this second pregnancy just like we did the first time.

The first 2 months were quite tough, not because I was having terrible sickness, but because my body was exhausted most of the time. To add to that, I have Luqman to look after, what with my parents away for Hajj. I was mostly emotional and I broke down a couple of times. I guess my body was changing and the hormones just affected me much. I am so thankful I have my husband and sister who patiently put up with me and continuously support me. They joked that it might be a girl coz I was hormonal all the time (which turned out to be true!). Sheesshh! Then things got better and better, alhamdulillah!

So yes, I am more than happy now. I am currently at my 21st week.Alhamdulillah Allah decides to give us sooner than expected and I believe He knows best. I believe he has planned everything beautifully for us. I just pray that this pregnancy will be a smooth one, with no complications and I would be able to go through a normal labour, too insyaAllah!

11 months

Luqman turns 11 months today, alhamdulillah. He is almost a toddler, yeay!

The days leading to today, I can see that he has started to make his biggest strides toward independence *tear* His most noticeable progress is toward walking and at 11 months, Luqman has walked many steps on his own! Alhamdulillah. He becomes so fascinated with his new accomplishment that it is impossible to just let him sit still.  

Having said that, he still finds crawling is easier and quicker that we have to constantly keep an eye on him as he will 'disappear'. And his favourite spot is to crawl up the stairs. Sometimes we just let him be (with supervision of course) because this kind of 'play' helps him to coordinate his use of arms, eyes and legs. 

He babbles a lot, too, which I find really cute :) We try to let him to familiarize with a lot of words that he will be hearing often like 'Sit down', 'drink', 'give Umi', 'clap' (for every accomplishment he makes), our names, 'Bismillahirrahmanirahim' (to let him know it is his meal time) so that he will know how to make the associations later.  So far, he is progressing well. Oh and he knows 'hi' and 'bye' too.

 Perhaps I need to make him go through more picture books with me. I don't think he is not interested, it is just that sometimes he can't sit still. When he does, he seems to like it. Will try again and again and instil his love for books too :)

Ahh, my little boy is going through a fast-paced development that it is overwhelming at times. Now that it's the holidays, I am enjoying and loving every second spent. Soon, he is going to be a big brother and I hope I will be able to concentrate on him too as much as I will on his younger sibling. I want to witness all his developments and accomplishments. And I want him to know that our love and attention will always be there for him. 

This is because I realise that he has somewhat become a little clingy than usual, like he knows he is getting a sibling soon. There are days when he refuses to be separated with me, he gets cranky, and only wants to be held. It worries me at one point, but hubby said it's his phase. Babies, too, have feelings, and that he actually may fear separation from me, like he foresees his days of dependency is coming to an end once the baby is born. 

Anyway, I can't wait to chart more progresses the first 12 months will bring!

2 in 1

Both my parents have safely arrived from Medina early yesterday morning, alhamdulillah. It's such a great feeling to be able to see them again after 44 days. They are in their pinkiest of health alhamdulillah and they have never looked happier :)

All of us spent the night at Concorde Inn KLIA as my parents were expected to arrive at 1.00 am. Thank God it was just a 5-minute drive from our place to KLIA because mama and ayah arrived earlier than the expected time, so we rushed just in time to welcome them at the arrival gate.

With mama and ayah

We are so happy to have you back!

We were so excited with their homecoming that I almost forgot that it was also my husband's and I 2nd year anniversary! *slaps forehead* Time really flies, don't you think?

Like last year, no fancy celebration or the likes; just us wishing each other 'Happy 2nd year Anniversary'. Well, we'll probably go out for a nice dinner somewhere followed by a movie date. 

 

I even joked to him that I don't have to crack my head on what to give him as a present as we will be getting our precious gift in 5 months' time :) I remember it was also the same last year when I was pregnant with Luqman and just waiting for the time to pop! 

To you, dear hubby,

Thanks for the wonderful 2 years of marriage which I am sure has made us more mature;

Through trials and tribulations we have braved;

Through mistakes we have learned;

Thanks for being the leader and the shepherd - molding and leading us to the right path;

Thank you for always trying your best, providing us all you can;

Thank you for tolerating my temperaments (hehe) and always made me realise that patience is indeed a virtue;

And thank you for being the best life partner I could ever asked for.

Looking forward to many many wonderful years together, building a beautiful family, insyaAllah!

 The four of us, Singapore vacation, 2012

I pray that ours will last herein and hereafter and will always be blessed by Allah SWT, amin!

saying hello

I am enjoying my holidays so far, alhamdulillah (although work interferes here and there).

I have been moving ever since on the first day of school holiday itself and we just got back from Malacca yesterday. Pheww! With a very active 11-month-old and carrying the little one in the tummy, it is undeniably tiring but I can't complain, can I?

Traveling has also made me be more prepared and my time management is something that I can say I am proud of now. I now know better of handling things and preparing stuffs beforehand that it has now become second nature. Nothing to sweat now :)

I would love to share with you the journey and experience of the places we went. That would require separate posts, of course. InsyaAllah I will find the time to share my travelogue (chewah!).

For now, I am just going to enjoy my free time flipping through a novel since Luqman's asleep and mums would know how impossible it is for me to even get a hold of the newspaper once he is awake :)

Have a great day everyone :)

The fever is here

The day I worry is finally here. Luqman's been down with fever after 10 months.

His body's temperature was unusually high last night which kept both my husband and I alarmed. I gave him the medicine which his paed prescribed - it finally is being consumed. Then, We decided to wait until this morning and monitor his condition throughout the night.

His temperature was still high so we decided to bring him to the clinic. Husband was worried because we do not want him to have a fit - just like our nephew did the last time he had a fever even when his temperature was not that high. I forget about school (it was actually the fifth formers' Graduation Day today anyway so I don't worry that much) and off we went to the clinic at 7 am to avoid the traffic. 

It pains me to see him sick, really. He is his usual self, his appetite is okay and he still wants to breastfeed. He is still active but at times he cries uncomfortably and he has difficulty breathing.

He is now soundly asleep. I hope he gets well soon and that the fever will now stretch to days. 

His first tooth is probably peeking out, that's why :)  

(Yes, at 10 months he still hasn't had any teeth yet in case you're wondering)

Wordless Wednesday

Short getaway

Last weekend my little family and I went for a quick weekend getaway at Marriott Hotel and Spa Putrajaya.

 

It was actually a free gift voucher I received as the main prize for my school's hi-tea lucky draw session. Alhamdulillah, it was my luck. So off we went and stayed there for the weekend. The voucher entitled us to a 2 day 1 night stay inclusive of breakfast for two.

 

It was just a short stay but it was definitely a looked forward escapade for us to just relax and of course to let Luqman have fun in the pool!

Anyway, enjoy the pics!

Clearly Luqman did not like being in the float still and as it turned out he loves the tub more than the pool haha

The breakfast was scrumptious and I love the array of food provided. No pictures though. 

Managed to catch up with a good friend, Fatin in Alamanda. And also visited another dear friend, Durra who had just given birth. Another one joining the bandwagon of motherhood alhamdulillah :)

Looking forward to upcoming getaways!

Trial Week

The past five working days were totally exhausting (to me, at least). We've started sending Luqman to his Wan's house every morning now. The trial week so far was okay, despite the fact that our daily routine now changes 360 degrees and my day starts as early as 4 am.

Alhamdulillah, Luqman seems okay now with his Wan and my MIL, after the first day itself, seems to get a hang of everything. My only concern is that Luqman refuses to drink his milk when being fed by his Wan. The first 3 days saw a waste of EBM as they had to be discarded everytime MIL warmed each bottle only to be rejected by Luqman. The frustration was unbearable, honestly. Luckily, the past days I was invigilating PMR at a school nearby my MIL's house so I managed to go back home during breaks and breastfeed him and at times, put him to sleep, too.

I am now consoled, knowing that Luqman will be in good hands. I mean, yes, there's nothing to worry about since it's his own Wan taking care of him but you know how a mother's feelings are, kan? I will not lie that I had my reservations before. I was thinking a lot of things like will Luqman cry once he realises it's not his Nanny that's taking care of him; or will he throw tantrums (oh yes, he's an expert in that!) when he feels uncomfortable with his new routine in the unfamiliar arms; what if he refuses to eat; and etc

But, Luqman surprises me I almost cried. He was okay when his Wan bathed him, he was his usual self when he had his meals and he actually managed to sleep when his Wan dodoi kan him (which is quite a struggle on Wan's side since he refuses to drink his milk). Alhamdulillah, syukur! I applaud my MIL for being strong and persistent to make everything alright. Taking care of a baby is not an easy task especially at her age, but alhamdulillah, everything's eased.

And, to make everything even better, my sister will start her break next week, which means she will be at my MIL's house to help her out. Alhamdulillah, I can never be grateful. Indeed, it's perfect how Allah has planned everything nicely.

And I am just relieved that I won't be the one to drop Luqman off at his Wan's every day. I know I would cry a bucket even if it's passed 20 days :)

 

Swimming experience

Luqman had his first swimming experience during the last Raya. He was about 8 months at that time. No professional was hired, it was just us being his coaches ;)

I initially wanted to let him swim earlier but you know lah, my mum, "He is still so small, cannottttt" not knowing that it is perfectly okay for babies as early as a few weeks to swim. They have what is called the swimming and diving reflex. But it's okay, we adhered and decided to wait till he was at least 7 months.

So when we went for a raya holiday in Malacca, we decided to give Luqman a taste of the pool.

He hated the arm floats

He was okay in water but we dared not let him go underwater yet.

It was Luqman's dad I was quite worried for hehe

We're thinking that we should have gotten the round waist float instead because the bulky arms sort of limited his movements. Will get them later for his next swimming session.

Looking forward to more swimming sessions ya, little boy?

Mecca in two weeks

Yesterday, my family held a kenduri tahlil and doa selamat in conjunction with my parents' departure to the Holy Land in two weeks' time. Alhamdulillah, it went well, many came and it was, at one point an emotional gathering of families, relatives and close friends. I have never seen Ayah shed so much tears yesterday.

I can never be grateful enough that their time has finally arrived to be Allah's guests, to perform this obligatory pilgrimage; one of the Pillars of Islam. Alhamdulillah! Honestly, them leaving has impacted me in so many ways I can never explain. I once read and been told, that performing the Hajj is a jihad on its own. Anything can happen there and they need all the strength to perform the best, insyaAllah.

The most common question asked when told that my parents are leaving for Mecca is "Who will take care of Luqman?"

My MIL has been so generous and kind enough to take a month's leave just to care for Luqman. Alhamdulillah! Initially, I wanted to apply for a month's leave but I believe that Allah has planned everything nicely for us. So my husband and I are hoping for the best and that Luqman will be just fine.

We have so many things to prepare and we need to manage our time as this will be the first time that we're sending Luqman off to another place. I will finally be able to feel what it's like sending off your son to a babysitter early in the morning and pick him up later in the evening, preparing his stuffs and food the day prior for the whole week, etc. Phew, seems like a lot of work! We even plan to send him off for training a week before my parents' departure just to let my MIL get a hang of his routine and for Luqman to be comfortable with her. This is also to let my mum rest.

InsyaAllah, I pray that Allah will ease everything. I pray that my parents will be able to perform their Hajj smoothly, dengan kusyuk, they have good health and utmost patience. And most importantly, that they will be granted Haji Mabrur, amin!

Semoga selamat pergi dan selamat sampai.