I don't wanna go to work! Next week I'll be back in the office after my 60 day maternity leave...Boringgg!
I've been baking these few days i.e doing things that I might not do once I'm back to work. I've gained better confidence in baking cakes. The ingredients are more a less the same except additional 2 or 3. I did mostly chocolate cake because it uses less eggs and butter. I do want to bake other cake e.g. buttercake or sponge cakebut I haven't found recipes that use minimal eggs and butter. I've tried 3 different recipes for chocolate cake, brownies, chocolate ganache, buttercream for decorating and today tried to make swans out of choux pastry.
I'm planning to bake a chocolate cake for the kids birthday party on the 9th of December thus the enthusiasm.
You won't have the time for thoughts once you're stuck deep in your job so I used the long break that I have to muhasabah, plan things and enjoy my life at home.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Holiday at Sungkai
On the 29th October, we had a weekend trip to Felda Hot Spring, Sungkai in Perak. It was the first 'Family Day' arranged by neighbours of Lorong 3/14. I was on my 40th day of confinement so the trip was 'legal' for me. It was a first holiday outing for Lutfi so i was quite anxious actually. Alhamdulillah, he behaved well, slept through the night except he couldn't stand the aircond thus had blocked nose. Oh yeah! It was the first outing with Abah's new Estima too...
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| Lutfi on the way to Sungkai. |
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| The reception of Sungkai Felda Residence. |
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| Creative eh. Umbrella turned into eye catching lamp shade |
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| Among the activities. |
The trip was enjoyable. Since i couldn't join any physical activities, I went to book a session with the spa. I paid RM140 for a Traditional Massage + Body Scrub. The spa is well decorated, I give 7/10. The service, mmmm... could be improved. The staff possibly is not professionally trained thus I give 5/10. They have 2 huts and each hut has 2 rooms. 1 hut for the ladies and the other is for men. Value for money? Possibly...
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| The massage area. Nice |
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| The other side of the room |
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| Entrance to the massage room |
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| The hut that has 2 massage rooms |
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| Lush greenery |
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| The entrance to the spa |
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| What I had initially. Looks healthy isn't it |
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| My hubby's |
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| View from where we sat during breakfast |
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| Our room is 222, on the 1st floor |
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| Could you see Lutfi on the bed? |
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| Lutfi, geared for the holiday |
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| Made him wear this before he outgrows it |
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| Our room connected to Bibik's room |
(No pictures at the Hot Spring because i was busy looking after Lutfi)
All in all, it was an outing long waited for since i was pregnant. Looking forward to plan for 2012 now!....
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| On the way to our Sunday lunch |
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| Having problem to go through the small 'titi'. |
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| The convoy |
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Chocolate all the way
I baked chocolate cake twice and tried a brownies recipe (baked on different days)during my confinement. All ingredients were available so I thought why not. I tried Jamie Oliver's recipe and it turned out ok although a bit burned and overbaked. My oven gets really hot and i can't use the heat and time length as per instruction. I have to try and error to understand my oven....
I'm always amazed by people who manage to take pictures of what they have done especially with the before and after. It is fulfilling to see the fruits of your labour. Hope I will remember next time....
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| Jamie O's recipe. Fresh from the oven |
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| After drizzling the chocolate sauce |
New TARGETS
Target after maternity leave_Nov 2011
Today 2.11.2011 I weigh 76.6kg. I target to weigh 73kg on 21.11.2011 that is 3.6kg in 12 days (after deducting weekends). I need to maintain losing 0.3kg for 12 days
Target for IDEAL WEIGHT
My ideal weight is 60kg. If i constantly lose 2kg per month, this can be achieved by May 2012 starting from December 2011
Today 2.11.2011 I weigh 76.6kg. I target to weigh 73kg on 21.11.2011 that is 3.6kg in 12 days (after deducting weekends). I need to maintain losing 0.3kg for 12 days
Target for IDEAL WEIGHT
My ideal weight is 60kg. If i constantly lose 2kg per month, this can be achieved by May 2012 starting from December 2011
I need to beat 2010 posts!
I thought I could catch up updating my blog during maternity leave. I need to beat 42 posts of 2010! I have 16 posts including this thus 26 more to go! (this post is intentionally written to increase the 2011 counts with no actual story to tell :-p
Day 44 already?
Today is supposed to be a merdeka day for me. I remember during early confinement, I couldn't wait for the period to be over. But once the 44th day is here, I sighed. Thoughts on coming back to work disturbs me.
I've been very good during confinement. I was rather focused and followed the pantang to the T (except for 2 or 3 weekends). I weighed myself everyday to record any weight loss (my record include weight of bengkung around 0.5kg). I started recording on Day 21 of 77.8kg. My lowest was 75.7kg on Day 32 which is near to my pre pregnancy weight. However, due to breaking the rule (eating stuff other than nasi, fried food, sweet treats), I've gained and today I'm 77.6kg. If I had maintained the pantang, I could weigh 74-73kg by now. It took 3 weeks to lose 2kg and just a weekend to gain it back! Damn.... I noticed the weight gained when I didn't drink enough. This weekend is Hari Raya Haji, another challenge for me to overcome.
Up to today, I still wear bengkung. This bengkung is the most comfortable. I've tried the 'Lilit' and 'Tali kasut'. This comfortable bengkung similar to 'Lilit' but the difference is in the material of cloth used. This one is imported from Indonesia. I even thought of continue wearing it when I'm back at work.
Up to today, I have 18 days before I come back to work. I want to focus on my work after this thus I shall use the available time now to plan activities/holidays, plan my diet and healthy routine, spend time with kids, update my blog, savour quality time with baby Lutfi and a lot of other things which if I don't do the thinking now, I would waste the time that I have now.
I've been very good during confinement. I was rather focused and followed the pantang to the T (except for 2 or 3 weekends). I weighed myself everyday to record any weight loss (my record include weight of bengkung around 0.5kg). I started recording on Day 21 of 77.8kg. My lowest was 75.7kg on Day 32 which is near to my pre pregnancy weight. However, due to breaking the rule (eating stuff other than nasi, fried food, sweet treats), I've gained and today I'm 77.6kg. If I had maintained the pantang, I could weigh 74-73kg by now. It took 3 weeks to lose 2kg and just a weekend to gain it back! Damn.... I noticed the weight gained when I didn't drink enough. This weekend is Hari Raya Haji, another challenge for me to overcome.
Up to today, I still wear bengkung. This bengkung is the most comfortable. I've tried the 'Lilit' and 'Tali kasut'. This comfortable bengkung similar to 'Lilit' but the difference is in the material of cloth used. This one is imported from Indonesia. I even thought of continue wearing it when I'm back at work.
Up to today, I have 18 days before I come back to work. I want to focus on my work after this thus I shall use the available time now to plan activities/holidays, plan my diet and healthy routine, spend time with kids, update my blog, savour quality time with baby Lutfi and a lot of other things which if I don't do the thinking now, I would waste the time that I have now.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
I've given birth!
I only get to update today, on my 22nd day of confinement! Anyway, I have safely delivered SVD a 4.65kg baby boy on 20 Sept 2011 at about 1.14pm (tengah azan Zohor). I had a regular check up on the 19th and was making sad faces to the doctor in order to plead for a MC that day. She then checked and found out i had 4 cm dilated and warded me. I was not prepared at all and rather speechless. And the suspense started from there...
Alhamdulillah, everything went ok without any complication. Except the baby was detained for 5 days due to his heart beating too fast. Apparently this is normal for big babies. 4.65kg...yeah, i was shocked too. The doctor did mention about it looking at my belly but i bet she also didn't expect it to be more than 4.5kg. During labour, i did think this might be my last. I thought of the risks of getting pregnant after 35 and was too tired during pregnancy. There is also a risk of bigger baby following this pregnancy and I'm too scared for a C-sec birth.
Obviously i had a tear but i don't know how bad it was (if it was bad at all). I was fully comfortable (when the tear healed) on my 12th days of confinement. Usually it takes around 1 to 2 weeks to heal. I don't remember my previous records but i guess i healed faster than this one.
This is my first time going through confinement at my own home, previous 2 were at Batu Pahat. I think I'm more organized at my own home. I listed out the medications i have to take, write down the confinement countdown. This time I'm more aware of the confinement stages.
First, make sure the tear is healed in order for you to feel comfortable during confinement. Once you're comfortable, you can now focus on your effort of losing the pregnancy weight. So you must take necessary healing medication and rest during the 1st & 2nd week. I took pati ikan haruan as recommended by friends/families. Pati gamat is good too which i took during my 2nd confinement. Other confinement medication:
Nona Roguy Akar Herbanika (to keep body warm)
Nona Roguy Phytonatal pills (to avoid constipation)
HiGoat goat's milk (to lower baby's jaundice reading)
Jamu (traditional way to maintain energy and glow)
Pati prune Innershine (just want to try. Who knows I'll glow like Maya Karin ;-P )
Apart from the medication, there is also confinement rituals:
Urut/sengkak (traditional way to put womb back to its place and treat the body back to normal)
Tungku (same as above)
Param (yellowish powder spread on the body to keep the body warm and fair)
Pilis (dark mixture placed on forehead to avoid wind getting into the body)
Bengkung (belly wrap to shrink the belly and ensure the womb is in its place)
I managed to do the rituals until today. Now that I am comfortable, I'm planning for aqiqah and birthday party for the kids. I also need to think of my objectives after confinement. I shall write about it in another entry :-)
Alhamdulillah, everything went ok without any complication. Except the baby was detained for 5 days due to his heart beating too fast. Apparently this is normal for big babies. 4.65kg...yeah, i was shocked too. The doctor did mention about it looking at my belly but i bet she also didn't expect it to be more than 4.5kg. During labour, i did think this might be my last. I thought of the risks of getting pregnant after 35 and was too tired during pregnancy. There is also a risk of bigger baby following this pregnancy and I'm too scared for a C-sec birth.
Obviously i had a tear but i don't know how bad it was (if it was bad at all). I was fully comfortable (when the tear healed) on my 12th days of confinement. Usually it takes around 1 to 2 weeks to heal. I don't remember my previous records but i guess i healed faster than this one.
This is my first time going through confinement at my own home, previous 2 were at Batu Pahat. I think I'm more organized at my own home. I listed out the medications i have to take, write down the confinement countdown. This time I'm more aware of the confinement stages.
First, make sure the tear is healed in order for you to feel comfortable during confinement. Once you're comfortable, you can now focus on your effort of losing the pregnancy weight. So you must take necessary healing medication and rest during the 1st & 2nd week. I took pati ikan haruan as recommended by friends/families. Pati gamat is good too which i took during my 2nd confinement. Other confinement medication:
Nona Roguy Akar Herbanika (to keep body warm)
Nona Roguy Phytonatal pills (to avoid constipation)
HiGoat goat's milk (to lower baby's jaundice reading)
Jamu (traditional way to maintain energy and glow)
Pati prune Innershine (just want to try. Who knows I'll glow like Maya Karin ;-P )
Apart from the medication, there is also confinement rituals:
Urut/sengkak (traditional way to put womb back to its place and treat the body back to normal)
Tungku (same as above)
Param (yellowish powder spread on the body to keep the body warm and fair)
Pilis (dark mixture placed on forehead to avoid wind getting into the body)
Bengkung (belly wrap to shrink the belly and ensure the womb is in its place)
I managed to do the rituals until today. Now that I am comfortable, I'm planning for aqiqah and birthday party for the kids. I also need to think of my objectives after confinement. I shall write about it in another entry :-)
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| Right after labour. |
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| On his 6th day. |
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