Super moms!

When Zac was a few months old a friend of mine introduced me to a Breastfeeding Network on Facebook. The members on this network helps and encourage each other on breastfeeding and discuss and share knowledge on how to give the best to our babies. Gina Yong, the famous breastfeeding guru is also on this network and she is quite active in giving advices too.

When I started reading the posts on this network, it made me feel like crappy mom. Some of the moms are really amazing I tell you. I just don't know how they did what they did. Here are some of the things that made me go 'WHOAAAAAAA.........'. Let me know if you feel the same too :)

1. Most of them breastfed their babies exclusively until they are 3 or 4! Some even continue to breastfeed several kids (eg feeding the 3 and 4 year olds while still pregnant with the next one).
2. Some of these mothers have so much milk that they actually 'donate' their milk to babies in orphanages or use their milk to make breast milk soap.
3. Some of the mothers are also strongly against vaccinations, even the compulsory ones. I know of one who had 3 kids (pregnant with No 4) and all her kids have not been jabbed before, not a single one. She claimed that all these vaccinations actually make the babies sick. According to her (she said she made a lot of research herself), babies are born healthy and all these vaccinations with chemical contents that are actually harmful to small babies who cannot tolerate them will only make them worst. Also according to her, her kids have never been seriously sick, just the usual flu and cough and they usually heal very fast and they have NEVER been to the doctors. She however do supplement her kids with Vit C and VCO (Virgin Coconut Oil). Whenever the kids are not well, she will boost their Vit C intake, that's all.

So, are you feeling crappy yet?

I have given my kids all the jabs in the world (kiasi), even the not compulsory ones and now I felt like I have failed my kids by injecting them with poisons and not to mention those antibiotics they have taken due to their sensitive throat since they were babies.

Although I hate going in there to read the posts (as they make me feel crappy) but it honestly does provide a lot of useful tips and infor in bringing up kids the healthy way. I am surely going to get some of those Vit Cs and VCOs for my kids now :)

Bite marks

Both kids got bitten today :(

My boy got bitten by mozzies and it usually will end up like these and they will usually last for 3 - 4 days. Now he still doesn't know how to scratch and I don't dare to imagine how many 5 cents or 10 cents marks he will end up having when he does know how to scratch later.

And my girl got bitten by her classmate. This photo was taken at 9pm, about 10 hours after the incident. When the teacher first told me over the phone, I was so angry I wanted to find the boy and pull out all his teeth. But then I calmed down and reminded myself that they are just kids. It could happen the other way around and if that really did happen I am sure I would feel very sorry for the other kid as well.

Winning a prize

2 months ago I participated in a contest organised by Alice Law and won :). Thank you Alice!!

This is the prize I won and both my girl and my boy enjoyed playing with it. I really love Fisher-Price toys, they are so colourful, educational and interactive.

Ever since the toy arrived, my girl have been busy 'cooking' stuff for me to eat using her new kitchen and my boy enjoyed the catchy tunes and love dancing to the tunes.

The Monster in him

I cried so hard my eyes were swollen. After a big cry and a few calls (to my mom and my sis) to get it out of my system I was feeling so much better.

This morning I took Zac to see Dr Lee. Dr Lee gave him a thorough check and had a good look at the swelling. He said Zac is a very healthy boy with a very good weight. As for the swelling he didn't really comment much, he probably was puzzled too like all the other doctors. He did however say that since it didn't seem to bother him and it is not painful, we should just leave it and monitor it for a while. He adds that he has seen a lot of cases like these where some will go away after a while, some gets bigger and some becomes permanent. He did however add that Zac could probably have been born with it and it grew overtime without us realising. He said a child surgeon would probably be able to tell us the diagnostic and options better and suggest that we see a Dr Goon who is in a clinic next to his.

Since we were already there I wanted to meet with Dr Goon if he is available. Thankfuly he is. After waiting for a few mins, we went in to meet with the surgeon. Our hearts pounding. Dr Goon inspected the swelling and the ultrasound and the first thing he said was 'there is water inside here' referring to the swelling. Then he went on to explain about the complications of the area and what are our alternatives. He used a lot of medical terms and chinese words and we tried to understand as much as we can. The discussion went on for about 15 mins. So whatever I am writing here is based on layman terms, ie terms that I can understand and they are not exactly the terms/words he used.

Dr Goon said what's inside are fluid but whether it is blood or some clearer liquid (he said something about 'lymph' something which I could not remember) is something we cannot determine. He said the swelling is located right at the lymph nodes which is just next to the ear and he is also unable to determine if it is in the lymph nodes itself or if it is next to it or if they are actually connected/touching. I asked him if we could do some other scans to determine what it is exactly and he said even a CT Scan will not be able to give him an answer as they are really close.

The lymph nodes is where the main vein is controlling the facial movement and it is very dangerous to operate anywhere near there as the chances of it being affected during surgery is usually very high. If the main vein gets affected, he will end up with facial deformities, unable to control his eyes/nose/mouth are some of the effects. He went on and listed out for us the possibilities:

Worst case scenario

He said some will continue growing until it begin to affect the child. Some child's face will tilt to one side to accomodate the growth or the lumps will begin causing issues to the nodes and veins. In cases like these we will need to discuss again and determine the suitable course of action. Surgery might be an option but not without the risks. Even with a surgery, we might also need to consider whether to extract the whole thing or have it partially removed. 'Septated' in the earlier report by the radiologist means that it is a clutter, not just one :-(

Middle case scenario

Dr Goon went on and said that some might just grow to a certain size and then stopped growing. In cases like these we might decide to just leave the lump as it is as it is not life threatening but it means he will have to live the rest of his life with an ugly lump on one side of his cheek. For cases like these we can also consider (if the child is older) to extract the fluid out using a syringe and get it tested to confirm what it is. The test results might also help us to decide what's next ie whether to leave it alone or figure out if it's safe to be surgically removed.

Happily ever after scenario

There are also chances that the lump will decide to go away on its own just like how it magically appeared over a period of time. How long no one knows. It might take days, months or even years.

So what's next?

We will need to continue to monitor the swelling for any growth. Dr Goon did say that it is common for the swelling to subside for a day or 2 and then return bigger for a few days etc. So we should not be alarmed if there are sudden changes in a few days. We should monitor it closely over a longer period and if it constantly gets bigger over a few days, then we need to bring him back for a check up.

We also need to monitor for fever or redness in the swollen area. As the lumps are made of fluid, Dr Goon said he might get infections. When that happens he will need to take antibiotics to control the infection.

We will need to return for a follow up in 6 months.

It really broke my heart to think and imagine what he 'might' need to go through in the near future. Although things are still uncertain for now, like most mothers, I will not stop worrying and blamimg myself for whatever will happen to my child. If given a choice, I would like to take his place and go through whatever he is going through. If given a choice, I would take the lumps and put it in my cheeks. If given a choice, I would ask God to please spare him and let him grow up healthy and normal.

Unfortunately the choice is not in my hands. All I can do now is hope and pray that the lumps will go away on its own very very soon. In the meantime, I will never stop kissing and hugging and loving him and of course his sister too!

The monetary damage today is RM205.

His first ultrasound

Referred by the child specialist, we took Zac for an ultrasound and he was extremely co-operative. No crying, no whining, my brave boy.

The radiologist at SDMC scanned his swollen cheek (as well as the other side to compare) and wrote this in her report "The left parotid gland is grossly swollen and heterogeneous. It is generally hypodense and appears septated. No obvious upper cervical nodes seen".

I can't really digest what she's trying to say medically but I do know that 'grossly swollen' means I should probably be worried. She concluded her report by saying "This may be post-inflammatory".

So I asked her if this is dangerous and what's next? She said she doesn't really know as she's not a child specialist and suggest that I revisit the child specialist and show her the imaging report and the ultrasound printout and seek further recommendations. I suspect the child specialist will refer me to a ENT specialist. I will need to find time to pay the child specialist another visit soon.

Anyway, the monetary damage at SDMC is RM97.80.

I just hope this is nothing serious and it will go away on its own VERY VERY soon.

Updates:
Spoke to the child specialist Dr Chia who referred us for the ultrasound and told her about the imaging report. She said "no nodes seen" is a good sign but she is still puzzled as to why the swelling and what causes it. She said since it is not pus, not painful and doesn't seem to bother him, it is probably not dangerous and we should wait 2 more weeks to see if it will go away. If it's still there and still the same size by then, she suggests that we consult a surgeon and see if it should be removed surgically. There is no medication to treat it.

Anyway, I am going to get a second opinion from Dr Lee Eng Lam, SDMC since 2 of my friends recommended him [read comments to this post]. Hopefully he will be able to solve this mystery. Maybe I should also see Dr Choy, SDMC who is Zac's paed since he was born for a 3rd opinion? Anyway, I'll decide after meeting with Dr Lee.

The swelling looks more obvious in this photo

My boy and his swollen face

For the past few weeks my boy had this swell on his left cheek just next to his ear and no it is not mumps. I have got 2 doctors (a child specialist and a normal GP) to check on it and both does not seem to worry. Their opinion:

1. he didn't have fever so there is no need to worry


2. the swell is not tender and not red so it's not an infection


3. it doesn't hurt when we touch or press it

He's got a bad case of cough, flu and phlegm in the last few weeks which might have cause some lymph nodes on his cheeks to swell (you know just like how our throat would sometimes swell if we have sore throat?!, yes like that)

They did however ask me to monitor for growth. Over the past few weeks (I think almost a month), it remained the same and this morning it does seem to look a little bit smaller - or maybe it was just psychological. Anyway, I have decided that if the swelling is still around this Friday, I am going to bring him back to his paediatrician at SDMC for a scan just to be sure.

See it for yourself and tell me if you'll be worried:

Life is so fragile

I just lost a school mate over the weekend to cancer... she was only 35!

When she found out about her cancer slightly more than a year ago, she was already at late stage 3 towards stage 4. In simple words, there was no hope for a cure. Nevertheless she still fought the battle and lost.

It made me realise 'again' that how fragile life can be and how we often take things for granted that 'there will always be tomorrow'. How can we be sure that there will always be tomorrow??

So this serves as a reminder to me and hopefully to the people I care about that life is too short to be wasted. Do what you like to do, eat what you want to eat, say what you want to say (responsibly of course) TODAY as tomorrow might not come....

CAR [ticked]

Yesterday I personally reached a milestone. I paid off my car after 55 months. It felt relieved. I no longer have to pay for it anymore and can put the supposed installments to good use going forward. It is so nice to have some spare cash :-).

I bought this car when it was 18 months old. A 2nd hand car. My 2nd car. This car served me very well (as opposed to my first car which will burn a big hole in my pocket once every year for the 3 years I've owned it) in the last 55 months and in return I treated it well too. Even though it has passed its warranty period long time ago, it still gets pampered and checked only at the Toyota workshop which we all know costs a lot more than going to any of the mechanics out there. Never mind that I paid more, I believe in karma. If you treat something or someone well, you will get treated well in return :-)

I hope it will continue to serve me well despite being 73 months old and will not give me any major headaches now that it has passed the critical mark (you know how most cars will start making noises and have things falling out from God knows where once they have reached a certain age?!). I love my car, it looks handsome and charming and I am definitely not planning to change it anytime soon!

Skinny me

I am one of the lucky few (or maybe unlucky to some) who tends to lose weight very quickly after child birth. I was back to my usual weight around Zac's full moon and would continue to lose weight slowly unless I stop breastfeeding.

I would get so skinny that I would look lethargic and frail. I could no longer fit nicely into my jeans or clothes and would look like I am wearing clothes I borrowed from someone else. Some of my friends even commented that all that is left is just my head! As I am also slightly tanned, I look really horrible (will look even more tanned) if I lose too much weight. My mom will ask me each time she see me if I have been in the sun although I have not!

During Hayley's time, I stopped breastfeeding at 8 months because I was getting thinner and thinner and my sister advised me to stop breastfeeding for my own sake. With Zac, even at 5 months, I am already having problems fitting nicely into my clothes. I am not going to shop for new clothes because I don't think I can easily find XXS and I know when I stop breastfeeding I will eventually return to my usual weight and the clothes will then be too tight for me.

Do any of you out there experience similar problems? Is this even a problem? I don't know. I just hate looking at my closet in the morning and not having anything suitable to wear despite it being full to the brim. And I get concerned when people ask me why I am so skinny and why I look so lethargic! I want to look good and not sick!

I tried to put on weight by eating more than the usual. I snack anytime I want to, I eat before I sleep, I eat all sorts of healthy and unhealthy stuff but I am still the same except that I developed a tummy because of my bad eating habits. I worry that if I let it get out of control by eating too much, I might have problems controlling my portions when I eventually stopped breastfeeding.

Hayley's bob

To make life easier for everyone, papa and I with a heavy heart finally decided to cut her hair.... we had to bribe her with a lollipop :-(

Heat rash attack 2

The heat rash attacked my poor girl again. The first time was in August and it lasted for slightly more than a week. This time we brought her to the paed and the paed said it wasn't heat rash. It was what chinese called 'fung mok'. I am not sure what it is called in medical terms. Anyway, the paed said it was an allergy, she is either allergic to some foods or some new washing detergent or some insects etc. The paed said it was mild and asked me if I gave her any new foods in the last couple of days. I honestly cannot recall giving her anything new and I bet the babysitter would tell me the same if I were to ask her on Monday. Hayley is 2.5 and she's eating everything we eat especially when we go out, it will be very tough to monitor her food.

Anyway, I am glad we brought her to the paed as the paed prescribed her with Atarax and the moment we gave her the first dose (she needs to take 3 doses a day for 3 days) the rashes disappeared. The paed also prescribed another med to be taken once a day for 2 weeks to hopefully get rid of this allergy.

Now the hard part is monitoring the food and if we can't find the source to it and should it happen again, we might need to document her daily food intake and routine to hopefully find the culprit.

As for eating the med, now that she's older and cheekier, she knows how to say no, how to keep her mouth closed and how to run away and hide the moment we take out the med bottle. The only way we can give her the med without any hassle is to bribe her with 1 M&M chocolate. We know bribing is not good but we're glad it worked.

Good bye old faithful

This blog is dedicated to 'old faithful' whom we've had for the last 15 years. Papa claimed it was a her and treated her like a wife. We really didn't have the intention to change her and there were no need to as papa hardly use her but because of the growing family and the need for a more reliable car, we didn't have a choice. Papa wanted to keep her as there were hardly any trade in value but felt that it wasn't the logical thing to do. Why would we need 3 cars at home? and where on earth will we park her? And if we kept her but ended up hardly using her, we know she will become more damaged and going to the scrap shop is the last we would want for old faithful. So we decided to let her go and hopefully she will find a new and better home.

Although she's no longer with us, here are some memorable stories that will always remain in our hearts:

• Papa first came to pick me up during our first date 13 years ago in her.
  
• Papa and I and now Hayley often argued about her colour. Both Hayley and I said she was green, papa insisted that she was blue. It created many laughter.
  
• Papa bought her when he first started working because of his previous girlfriend who insisted that a man must have a ride. When they broke up, he was heart broken and took her out for a drink and ended up throwing up in her at the back seat.
• When my first car was submerged in water up to the roof while parked behind the office (many years old during one of the heaviest down pour in KL), old faithful came to my rescue.
• When I was still dancing part time and didn't own a car, papa and old faithful waited for me to finish work to send me safely back home. Sometimes they waited for 30 mins, sometimes 3 hours. Although papa was showing me a sour face during the latter, old faithful greeted me with a smile :-)
• When we needed to transport bulky items like a table or chair, old faithful was the one we depended on as my car (although a sedan), could not perform the job like old faithful can.
• Papa had one major accident with her a couple of years back, half of the car (the front part) was gone. Papa smashed her into a tree while taking a turn in a dark alley. The windscreen was smashed and because there were no air bags papa flew out from car and was found by his friends several meters from her. Papa had to get a few stitches on his chin and legs and there were a few cuts here and there, the most obvious was the horizontal cut across his belly, but thankfully nothing major was damaged or broken. He was released from the hospital after half a day. Doctors said he was lucky but I think it was old faithful, she looked after him well. Old faithful was re-assembled again but she was never the same since then.
  
• I looked after papa while he was recovering, feeding him and cleaning his wounds. Papa was touched and proposed a few days later. He went down on one knee although he couldn't due to the stitches and I said yes :-). Prior to that, I found the receipt to the ring in his shirt pocket while helping him with his laundry and had to pretend that I didn't see it, he didn't know about this until I told him much later [hahaha]

Thank you for all the sweet memories old faithful and most importantly thank you for looking after papa during the last 15 years and keeping him safe. You also brought us together. You will be missed and we hope you will find a new good home and we certainly hope to see you around again soon.....

Sad news....

Yesterday and today I received 2 very sad news....

A good friend of mine is pregnant with her 2nd child. She's about a month behind me so the baby will due end Dec. This morning, I was told that she delivered yesterday, the baby at 29 weeks weighs only 1.35kg. 2 weeks ago she was complaining about having bleeding and doctor told her to rest more and I honestly didn't expect this to happen. I really hope both mummy and baby will pull through.

Again this morning I was told that another relative of mine who attempted IVF for the 5th time and finally got pregnant will also be having her emergency c-sec today, 1 month ahead of the EDD. Her gynae told her that the baby seems to be getting smaller so it is better for them to have her out and monitor her condition. What is going on? In the past I really rarely hear of cases like these but now it seems so common. Is it something we eat? or is it in the air that we breathe? I am so upset. I just hope both babies and both mummies will be ok.

This really made me appreciate more and more of what I have today....

Just me

Last Sat I attended a friend's wedding in Cyberjaya. We used to dance together and I was really looking forward to the night as I will be able to meet some of my dancer friends - reminiscing the good old times.

I went alone, no hubby and no baby for the night. So I got to talk with friends and eat in peace and enjoy the night fuss free.... :-). Oh boy how I missed moments like these...

Dancers and spouses/partners.. some retired

Retired dancers who now became mummies...

Evon on my right has 2 kids, a 9 year old boy and a 3 year old girl

May on my left has 3 kids, a 6 year old girl, a 3 year old girl and a 9 months old boy

And of course me in the middle, with a 2.5 year old girl and a 30 weeks old Bun :-)

Me? The Versatile Blogger?

This is the 2nd time I've been tagged since I started blogging. I didn't respond to the 1st one (can't remember what it was about anymore) cause I was pretty new back then and didn't really pay much attention to my blog. This time, I am going to put an effort and am going to accept the award gracefully.. hehe

Firstly, thanks to Leona for tagging me....

Here are the rules to accept the award:

1. List 7 random things about myself
2. Share the award with up to 15 other bloggers
3. Link to each of the recipients to let them know they've won via comments on their blog
4. Thank and bring the love back to the person you won the award from by linking back to them.

7 random things about me:

1. I love dancing. It was my No 1 passion. I used to work part time as a dancer before I had Hayley. Those were the best few years of my life. Even though I don't dance anymore, I still love to watch dancing shows on TV.
2. I am not a sports person, other than dancing and some Taekwondo lessons back in school, I am not into any sports. I don't play badminton, I don't know how to swim, I don't know how to play volleyball... I sucks at sports!
3. I am Ms Perfectionist. I am a Virgo so you can imagine. I used to struggle having to deal with messy people, messy house etc. After having a husband and kid, I have learnt to let go... still a perfectionist but definitely not as bad as I used to be. My husband always say I have OCD.
4. I am very stingy when it comes to spending on myself. I hardly go for spa or manicure or pedicure or massage or even buying stuff for myself. But when it comes to spending for my husband or my kid, any amount is not an issue. I just want to see the smile on their faces.
5. I am not a technology person either. I don't have the latest laptop or the latest camera or the latest mobile phone or an Ipod or a PS3. I don't believe in spending unnecessarily on those things. I will get it if I need it, if not then I'd rather save the cash into the bank.
6. I am a planner. I like to plan far ahead, sometimes too far that it stresses me out. I don't like feeling helpless so I always plan for our future, to be sure we have enough for the kids, for retirement and for emergencies.
7. Everyone will judge me by my looks that I am a very fierce person. Well, I can be very fierce when I didn't get what I was promised or I was not treated respectfully at a restaurant or I was being rude to. I am just standing up for myself. Other than that, I am a very nice person :-)

As I do not have many blogger friends (some have already been awarded), I have decided not to award this to anyone else.

When lightning strike.....

We lost our DVD player, Astro satellite dish, thermopot, WIFI router and possibly more gadgets/appliances which we have yet to thoroughly assess.

The rain and lightning were so ferocious yesterday afternoon. This was the first time we've experienced such a mishap. Luckily some of our other more expensive electrical appliances seems to be working fine.

This gets me thinking. Should we start considering getting one of those lightning rods for the roof or should we start buying insurance for losses caused by lightning - is there such an insurance to begin with?

Would you donate to a stranger?

That is what I did today. I donated RM100 to someone I didn't know. Not my first time though. Am I stupid or silly for parting with my RM100 hard earned money to someone I didn't know? I hope not. I hope the money is actually and truly helping someone in need.

I read on my friend's facebook today about a posting her friend wrote. Her friend is actually helping a couple to raise money for their son's surgery. The son, ie a baby is slightly more than a month old. The boy had various conditions and needs to be operated immediately. The surgery is scheduled for tomorrow and they were interviewed by some chinese press today to help them raise money. The surgery will cost about RM45,000 and this excludes all the other hospital expenses incurred. They are currently at Gleneagles Intan. I don't know if all these infors are true as they are found in the posting itself.

The story came with lots of photos, copy of reminders on outstanding payment from the hospital, letter of reference by hospitals as proof that it is not a scam. He is merely helping his friend.

Genuine or not my heart cringed when I saw the photo of the little baby covered in tubes and another photo of the mom wearing gloves and plastic apron touching the baby's face. The parents are not allowed to have any skin contact with the baby. Imagine that my friend! You can't even touch or kiss your own flesh and blood. I cried when I saw the photo, my eyes are watery as I am writing this.

I did wonder if this was a scam but then I asked myself, what if that was me. Thank God it wasn't me and I thank God for blessing me with a healthy little girl. To thank God for the blessing, I decided that I should help someone else in return. Although the amount is not something to shout for, I do hope it will contribute in helping the baby get better and eventually leading a normal life. I have been through the same situation 5 years ago when my dad was hospitalised. He was in a coma and was placed in ICU for 3 months in a private hospital. We received reminders and 'friendly' visits every week from the accounts department. We are constantly worried if our savings will be able to cover what seem like a never ending journey. Friends and colleagues helped. The hospital bill came up to about RM300k when it was over. So we know how it felt to be in that position, to be uncertain, desperate and worried.

Half of me is happy for doing what I did, the other half of me is wondering if I have been a victim of a scam. Whatever it is, I know God is watching from above. If this guy decides to scam us using such dirty tactics, he will receive his punishment. That I am sure. But if he is genuinely helping his friend, God will also see it and he will be blessed for having such a kind heart.

As for me, I hope little baby Matthew gets through the surgery tomorrow and that he will grow up to be a healthy and happy little boy who will in return help others!

UPDATES: I tried to log into his FB page to verify some infor but I can't find his page or the link anymore. I added him as a friend 4 hours ago and we exchanged some comments. Could it be some technical issues with FB or have I been scammed? My heart will be so shattered if I got scammed simply because I was just trying to help ...

UPDATES on 11 June: Apparently the father of the baby works in Public Bank and my sister who also works in PB received an internal memo this morning asking the bankers to help their colleague. Same story, same photos were shared. My sister also confirmed the father's name, ie the name of the account in PB that I made my donation to.

OK, this makes me really happy. At least I am highly convinced that the donation drive is genuine. Still don't understand why the friend who initiated the drive on the first place on his FB would disappear just like that.

Anyway, I hope baby Matthew pulls through the surgery today!!!!! Pray pray pray!!!

UPDATES on 12 June: I added baby Matthew's father on my FB list and he announced that the surgery went well yesterday but little Matthew will need to remain in ICU for 3 days for close observation. That is excellent news!

And the friend who disappeared from FB didn't really disappear. For some reasons (maybe they thought he is a scam), FB closed his account and removed all the links in relation to baby Matthew's story. He's now back using a diferent login profile :-)

Clocking the miles for charity

My company came up with a challenge for charity. Everyone in the company is supposed to clock 80 miles in 80 days. We can run, walk, cycle or swim. Whatever we achieve, the company will match and donate it to a charity in South Africa. I am still not 100% sure how it works. All I know is we can either achieve the 80 miles ourselves or buy miles from other colleagues if we can't achieve our own. Anyway, I will know more about it come end July when the challenge ends. The challenge started 1st May and todate I have only clocked 2 miles which is about 3km.

I have tried to walk (can't run, can't cycle and can't swim) 3km (1.5 mile) once every weekend at least but the weather has been either too hot or too wet. I am quite sure I will not be able to cover 80 miles in the remaining weeks but I do hope to do the best I can.

I am just wondering how other working mothers out there find time to exercise? I consider myself working 7 days a week. Mon to Fri for my employer, Sat and Sun for my husband and child. In fact, I am even more tired on weekends doing the house chores and looking after an active 2 year old.

When I was carrying Hayley, I was religiously walking 3x a week covering at least 3km each time. But with bun, I have not been able to exercise and am feeling really bad and guilty.

Hot Hot Hot

The weather is just too hot. I wish the hot spell would come to an end soon. It's so difficult having to deal with the hot weather especially when pregnant. We feel twice the hotness...!

Walking out of the house to hang some clothes or to bring in some clothes can kill me. I don't even want to go out for lunch and will normally ask papa to pack back. Yes that bad. Sometimes I will even sweat when sitting in front of the TV with the fan switched on.

I am so terrified that Hayley would get sick because of the heat and make sure I boil something 'cooling' for her to drink at least once a week. The easiest for me would either be barley or the big pear with brown skin. My sister told me the big pear with brown skin (sorry don't know what it is called) is good to bring down the heat in the body. All I need is just to wash it up, cut it into small pieces and put it to boil for several hours. Add some rock sugar to make it sweet. Thankfully Hayley enjoyed drinking it.

As for myself, I don't usually drink ice water or anything with ice in it when I am pregnant. I am not sure what the logic is but my mom and sis will ask me not so I just listen and follow their advise. But these few days I couldn't resist the temptation. It is so hot that I have to drink ice water almost everytime, ice coke is even better.... so sorry Bun, I hope it won't cause you harm in anyway cause I just have to drink it. If I ask my gynae whether it's ok to drink ice water, he will surely scold me. He will ask me if I did go to school cause the books would have taught me that cold water will turn to body temperature as soon as it enters the body. Therefore, there is no scientific proof that drinking ice water will cause any harm... haha

How to fix faulty camera or handphone batteries

Just a tip to share (in case you've not heard about this) is that if you have faulty camera or handphone batteries, you can try and wrap them up in newspapers and then put it in the freezer for 5 days. After that remove it from the freezer, unwrap it, let it air dry completely (maybe for a few days) and try charging again.

I have tried it with my own Canon digital camera battery. My battery could not last me an hour even after charging it fully and instead of throwing it into the bin, I thought I'd give the tip a try. I left the battery in the freezer for almost 10 days (cause I totally forgotten about it) and then removed it and let it air dry. Then I charged it and wooolaaaa.... it worked again. I've so far only used it for a few days and have not tried re-charging it the 2nd time so I am unable to tell you how reliable this tip is.

I have to warn though that the above only worked if your battery is still in good condition ie it's not broken or bloated. It worked only if the problem of your battery is that it's not charging properly.