And then there were 3A fulfilled & blessed life with 2.5 kidlets….

I’m sure there are loads of ways to induce labour especially when you’re overdue or when u’ve reached your duedate. I reckon once bub is 38 weeks, they are ready for the world and coming anytime from 38 weeks is fine. Arianna was about 38+ weeks old (9 days early) and KR took her time, she was a week overdue!! Born at 41 weeks and I reckon that if she didn’t have to come out, she wouldn’t have! While I tried everything under the sun to get her going, nothing worked. I can’t explain to you how terrible it is to play that sort of waiting game. Given the choice, I wanted her out at the 40th week but doc said to give her another week before I could get induced – that was ‘painful’ to hear coz I pretty much had had enough of lugging around the extra weight and I was just TIRED. I was BIG too. :/

Here are just a couple of things that was shared amongst some friends on mine on a forum when I was desperate and trying all sorts of methods to get KR moving and OUT! *lol* :P

1. Shopping & walking apparently helps but didn’t with me and I walked A lot! :P

2. Have unprotected sex (the few times you’ll get to tango for at least a while!) because it’s something (I forget) in the semen which labour going and apparently, it’s in the gel they give you too.

3. Spend time on your hands and knees and rocking on your haunches – Sometimes that can get the baby’s head into the right position to stimulate labour.

4. An extreme measure – castor oil (Take only if you’re really THAT desperate as I’ve been told it is FOUL!) I was desperate but didn’t resort to this. lol

5. Curb walking – walk along the road one foot up on the curb and one down in the gutter. I reckon this would look hilarious but seem to have worked on one woman. :)

6. Eating spicy foods

7. Going for a ride on a tractor! (Yes, someone who lives on the farm tried this – bub still wanted to stay in!)

8. Evening primrose capsules put near the cervix – It’s supposedly meant to help soften the cervix.

9. Acupressure points in the hand you can try and this would also include some reflexology spots on the feet, the heel if I’m not mistaken.

10. And what I’ve done with both the girls (a little too late for you, Annie if you haven’t been doing it for about 1-2 months prior to your duedate) is take raspberry leaf tea pills which also helps soften the cervix and prepare for labour. One doctor told me it doesn’t work and another did, so I’m just taking it anyway. – Ok, this one doesn’t really help induce labour but I thought I mention it anyway. Heh. :)

When all is said and done, bub will come when he/she is ready unless it’s just been too long aka 1 week overdue by which time you will definitely get induced to get it all going. Come to think of it, Ted and I have actually decided to con our doc into getting us induced as soon as possible after 38 weeks. As ‘cruel’ as it sound to ‘kick’ bub out of that comfy living area, after 2 induced labours I’m not really looking forward to experiencing a proper (natural) labour. ..I hate having to wait it out at home and timing my contractions till they are 5 minutes apart or whatever time it is they have to be before we rush to the hospital. Induce me so that it can all be over sooner! :P Sounds crazy, but you go with what’s suits you.

*Note : These methods have been collected from various people based on their experiences. I do not guarantee that they will definitely work for you.

As Catholics, it is our obligation and responsibility to ensure that our child is baptism and made part of the Catholic family as soon as possible. For us, I try to make sure that the kids are baptised by 6 weeks but more often than not it doesn’t always happen the way we want it. :P We were superbly late with Arianna who was baptised at nearly 8 months (Egad!!) and KR wasn’t too bad. She was baptised around 2+ months so that’s in keeping with time limit. The ILs and my Mum have been bugging us to have the baptism early perhaps due to habits as back in their days, baptism was done as soon as the baby was born due to the high rates of infant mortality. But that was then when healthcare wasn’t very good and people were relatively poor.

These days, we are much more blessed and I reckon can afford to take our time. :) FOr J-Roc, we’re hoping that my BIL (Ted’s elder brother) will agree to become the Godfather (happening title right?) and we’re making my sis the Godmother. They are both currently single hence no partner is available. :P And as a sign of thanks, we’re thinking of getting him a watch and sis suggested a Vacheron Constantin. I’m pretty sure he’ll like it coz he is an absolute sucker for watches and something as elegant as this will definitely be something he’ll like a lot! :)

Now all we need is a “YES” from him and we can start making the preps!! :D

Ever notice when your kid is too quiet…something funny is going on or something is just not right? Well, just like all the kids around the world, this is also applicable to the girls especially Arianna. With KR I’m not too worried coz #1. She can’t really walk steadily so her movements are sort of restricted, #2. She is still short so she can’t reach most of the important and breakable stuff around the house and #3. She’s got Arianna watching her like a hawk and if she steps out of line, Arianna is fast to be the whistle blower on her so she has no chance of ever doing anything out of line! *lol*

But Arianna, it’s a whole new ball game! In fact, when all is too quiet, I get scared….coz there are just a million and one things that she could be doing and I tell you, the stress that this kind of ’silence’ creates is no joke. And because I was too engrossed checking out reviews on Hydroxycut hardcore, for a moment, I forgot I had charges to look out for. *slaps forehead* When suddenly it occured to me that there was silence all around me…silence is not good when you have 2 toddlers in the house.

So, I hear you asking me, “Pray tell…what had happened?”. I reckon these following pictures says it all :

Didn’t realise yet that I had caught her….still busy ‘painting’ herself pretty.

Aha! Caught red handed – literally!!

She was messing around with Nanna’s lisptick and ruined most of it. I wasn’t sure if I was to laugh, cry or beat the heck out of her so instead, I just scolded her for ruining Nanna’s things and told her not to do it again…all this while trying to keep a straight face. It is NOT an easy feat, let me assure you. It was hell trying to get the lipstick marks off but I managed to eventually….she wasn’t pleased about me trying to wash it out coz I had to use some force. But I reckon all that scrubbing must have taught her something though…she’s not tried to pull that stunt again. :D

We are at 23 weeks now…I can’t believe how fast time flies…. :)

I recently went for my routine checkup and I was mighty pleased with the doctor. :D I am not easily impressed after multiple disappointments so when I encountered Dr. KS Wan, I reckon I’ve found the perfect baby doc! :) In fact, I reckon that if I were having my baby here in Malaysia, I’d definitely go to him.

He’s a very nice, warm man and full of humours too. He was joking with me for most of the time and during the scan, he was explaining everything that he saw on the screen to me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know what I was looking at. Then when he saw the gender, he said that there is no mistaking that we are definitely having a boy. He even said 100%! *lol* He showed me Jroc’s bits and all….

When he checked Jroc’s heartbeat with the Doppler, he said that there was a lot of movement but I told him that I could hardly feel any and at times I was very concerned but he told me that all is good and the reason behind why I couldnt really feel those kicks and all was because the placenta was shielding the tummy lining from feeling any movements. Hence, I would only feel the kicks when he’s stomping on my bladder or when he’s kicking down below. Doc said it’s quite common so not to fret – thank goodness for that!! I was wondering why I couldn’t feel anything even at this stage.

Anyway, I am scheduled for another check up next month before we fly back….while I am looking forward to seeing the little man’s progress, it is also a reminder to me that my time here in Malaysia will soon be over. What a bitter sweet reminder….. :(

These days, the term ‘Nanny’ refers specifically to my sister. *lol* Yea, ever since she spent time with the girls, KR has taken quite a liking to sis and whenever sis is home, she normally looks after KR ie. bathes her, carries her and be her human cushion when we go places.

However this vid shows her entertaining Arianna, who is her god-daughter. Such a cool Godma right!! Arianna loves it!! lol

Actually I totally forgot about this until I suddenly remembered it while reading an article on phentremine. Although there is nothing in common between the 2, something triggered my mind and I thought that while I still remember, I better write about it. Just wanted to thank sis for all the help she has given me. I don’t know how much more hectic and stressed I’d be if I had to handle the girls all by myself in such a huge house!! :P Yes, compared to my unit, our house here in Kulim is ginormous!!!

Perhaps its just me wanting to save more than just a few buck but the last time I had an actual facial was so long ago that I honestly cannot remember when I went for one. Normally I’d wait to come home to Malaysia to get it done because it’s way cheaper plus close to home.

But it has been 2 years since I last come home and yes, it really has been 2 years since my last facial….I just remembered. *lol* While I do try to keep my face blackhead free, I know it is impossible because there are area on my face I can’t see or reach. Hence I’ve been wanting to go for a facial ever since I got home. But with the crazy arvo naps these kids are having, it’s tough and unfair to leave Mum with them.

I guess I’ll have to wait for the nanny to come home and give us a hand. ;) Nanny is of course, my sister…..

Growing up, I had many ambitions but what I ended up becoming was not on my list. Till today, I still hold dear the thought that one day I will work with animals, that is the one thing that I hope to do before I die.

If you asked Arianna what she’d like to be when she grows up, I doubt she could answer you as she wouldn’t understand and I really have no idea what she would be best at. However, it was different with my Mum know knew what would have suited me but I was hard-headed and stubborn back then. I was your typical confused teenager who wanted to follow the trend and my friends instead of listening to the wise.

She wanted me to become a nurse and attend some sort of medical assisting school as she was a firm believer that nurses were always in need. And I could go anywhere I wanted to if I was a nurse but I refused and took my own path. Perhaps life would have been different if I had become a nurse. Perhaps I would never be leading the life I am leading now…then again, as my friend once said, ‘The route might be different, but it is destiny, the destination would probably turn out the same.’ And seeing how divine intervention worked for Ted and I, I reckon her words are true.

It can’t be that bad, can it? See, with just me at home, bored with nothing to do after the kids have gone to bed. I have been tempted many times to just take the car and go to the newest cinemas in town….just some 10 minutes away from home but I have been putting it off coz it seems so pitiful for me to go on my own.

One of the reasons that I have never gone alone is because it seems boring to do so. With a friend, you can hang out before the show starts and after, you could just pop out for a drink, to wind down before heading home. But alone, I think I’d end up at the cinema just as the show is about to start, and then zip back home right after coz what else am I suppose to do? Go for a drink all by myself? Golly, that would be really sad!!!

But the one thing good about going alone is that you could pick any seating you like especially in a 3 seat row (if you pick the middle one that is), it is highly likely that you’d end up having the whole row to yourself. :) No one dropping popcorn on your shoes or cold drinks dripping on your jeans. That’s not too bad a reason to go alone but nah, I think I’ll still wait for sis to come home to go to the movies. But sis, humph….she’s a brave one, she is. She’s gone many times on her own and I’m not sure what it is about going alone is that people tend to laugh at you when you do. But she pays them no heed. Good on ya, sis!!

Me, I’m too chicken, I think I’ll still stick to our good ol fashion home theater seating…. :P That way, I don’t have to stress out about anything at all. Ok, maybe in order to feel as if I *was* in a cinema, we might need to get a bigger tv. :D

One of the things that I would absolutely avoid at all cost is buying gifts for people. I find it extremely hard to pick something out that the other person would like and appreciate. More often than not, I also end up getting stuff that I would never dream of buying because it’s just not something that’s on my wish list. But a present is a present and most times, it is meant to be a surprise.

Me, I personally prefer personalized gifts. This could include anything from a simple handmade/hand-sewn table cloth to a handmade birthday card compared to buying something from the shop because when you get something that someone made with their own hands, you know that they made it with love. It is most special and I always cherish such things. When we were growing up, sis and I always made birthday cards and Mother’s/Father’s Day cards for our parents. And till today, Mum still keeps them. :D

I haven’t made a proper handmade birthday card in years. The last one I made was a simple printed out one for Ted for Father’s Day…or was it his birthday – I forget, and I didn’t really feel particularly good about it because it was so simple and printed from the computer. My excuse was that I couldn’t go out to shop for something for him. Sad, right? :/

That said, MIL’s birthday is coming up real soon and I’m thinking that perhaps I will make her a birthday card with a pix of the 2 girls together and send it off. I reckon she’d get a kick out of it!! It will definitely bring a smile to her face. :D I’m pretty sure of that…. :)

Now, if only I could get them BOTH in a pix!!! *rolls eyes*

…makes Ted a very tired daddy. :( Since we’ve been away, Ted’s been killing time by working long hours and spending what little time he has left after those long hours, just chilling back and working on his game/mod. He loves his mod and it is one way for him to unwind and rest after a hard days work. I know how tough it was for him to concentrate on his game with us around because kids being kids, they are not a quiet bunch and are always seeking his attention. But I guess with the noise gang gone, he is making full use of this time to get as much done as possible.

I reckon his job is something that I couldn’t do even if I tried. He works with the disabled and spends most of his time caring and looking after them…from ensuring they take their med to taking them to doctors appointments to the simple basic things. I don’t think I have the patience nor the ability to take on the responsibility he has. Sometimes he even has to do loads of paperwork which would include those related to things to things like social security disability benefits and such. I don’t blame him for wanting to soak in the tub for hours on end just to relax. Poor thing…

We sure miss him a lot….can’t wait till he comes to visit!! :)