Thursday, December 4, 2008

Belly button during prego

Last nite, i realized that belly button is almost sticking out! hehehe no wonder there was on & off pain in my belly button for several days before. Then today, i received an e-mail from About.com, an article "How Pregnancy Changes Your Belly Button" by Robin Elise.

1 of the Q, answered my curiousity regarding the pain in the belly button. So just read:

Okay, it may sound downright silly to devote a whole article to the pregnant belly button - but I get a lot of mail on this topic! So here are the answers to some of the most popular questions about the belly button of a pregnant woman.

Q. I have my navel pierced. Do I have to take the belly button ring out during pregnancy? If so, when?

A. I've had several clients who had their navels pierced prior to becoming pregnant. They have each made different decisions regarding the ring during pregnancy. I have had some people choose to remove it at their practitioners request, though no medical reason was stated, ask your practitioner what is right for you. Some choose to leave it until their bellies got larger and then removed it. A few were forced to remove it as it became uncomfortable at the very end of pregnancy as their abdomens were stretched tautly causing a pulling sensation.

And then I've also had some who left it in the whole time with never a care.

Q. Why is my belly button sticking out?

A. Even if you've been an "inny" all of your life, during pregnancy the expansion of your abdomen can cause you to be an "outy." There isn't much you can do about this temporary condition, except to cover it with clothing. Some women have taped something over it to create a more flat appearance under their clothing. You should also have your practitioner check it out to ensure you don't have a hernia.
Will my bellybutton pop out?

Q. Is it normal to have a flat belly button?

A. Yes, as your stomach expands with the baby, you may notice that your belly button becomes flat and taut against your skin. This is normal and will revert back to your normal belly button once your baby is born.

Q. I have a pain inside my belly button. What causes this?

A. This can be caused from the stretching of the skin on your abdomen or it can a muscular issue. Always report pain to your doctor or midwife.

Q. My belly and belly button are itchy. Should I be concerned?

A. As the skin stretches it may become irritated and itchy. Try keeping it well hydrated with your favorite lotion for some relief.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

midwife appointment

today i went to Abbotsford for my bi-weekly appointment with the midwife. This time, hubby was not coming, so i drove myself.

As usual my blood pressure is good and no other problem ;) I've gained another 2 1/2 pounds, and the midwife said it's really ok as i only gained about 20 pounds since the 1st appointment.

We heard the baby's heartbeat and it was good too -160 beats/min. Caroline (the midwife) measured my tummy - 31cm. The baby's head is already down toward my pelvic and hopefully everything continues being fine throughout the pregnancy.

I dont have any strect-mark yet and no edema (swollen leg/hand/face) too. From the midwife office, i went to the Seven Oak West Mall in Abbotsford - just checking out the Linen & Things store which is now on 'going out of business' deal.

Yea..the store is now 50% empty - most stuffs were gone. I bought 2 huricane glass for my candles. 1 was 75% off and the other was 25% off.

From Linen & Things, i went to the Thyme Maternity store. Bought 2 pairs of nursing PJs, 1 t-shirt and 1 blouse.

In the evening, i called my mum and my sister. We talked about many stuff, laughed and irritated with some news. Then i talked with 2 of my brothers too.

For supper, i cooked mushroom soup for hubby and mixed vegetable tom-yam & rice for myself. then ate tofu almond as dessert, to neutralize the acid LOL...

Monday, December 1, 2008

Craving of 'sayur manis'?

I was craving sayur manis for sometime ago...where to find sayur manis in Canada??

Then 2-3 weeks ago, on the way from UBC to home - i drop by at a Vietnamese market in Abbotsford. As i walked in, i saw....fresh durian!!! Then i saw rambutan.

I was looking for eggplant at the vegie section, passed by this green bag- didnt really look at it 1st. then i pass by again, out of curiousity, i grab a bag of it and look at it carefully.

To my amazement, it was "sayur manis"!!!! i was like - wah! where this come from? So i asked the seller, and she said it came directly from Vietnam! Hahaha what a blessed day for me!

Another amusement, i saw bunch of sugar cane/tebu! Sell for $2 each - yeah, i was thinking how this stuff is really free in my mum's house hahaha didn't think much about it so i bought a durian for $22, sugar cane $2, a bag of sayur manis $2.99, rambutan & few other stuff. Spent about $44 in this market.

Mind me; buying Asian groceries in Western countries like Canada is really expensive. I feel like i'm buying luxury stuff - well, it is an imported stuff for Westerner over this side of the world anyway! Just cant wait to go home, balik kampung, makan kangkung hehehe

Once i got home in Chilliwack, i finished eating the durian 1st by myself - nothing left except the kulit & biji only, then i ate rice with sayur manis & chili sardine! Haiya...no wonder gained soo much weight all of sudden hahaha

Ms. Kitty

Ms. Kitty is a cat that owned our neighbourhood ;) She come and go as she wishes but yea, it depends whether you're willing to take her in or not.

Ms. Kitty took months to put her trust on us - since last month ( i guess due to the cold weather), she decided to brave herself to come into our house whenever we open the door.

She will stay at nite indoor, but when she wanted to make 'big business', she will wake up us to let her out! hmmmm..as smart as my cats in Sabah hehehe...Ms. Kitty reminds me a lots with Sampapas (my Sabahan black & white cat) and Budding (my 3 colors cat).

Ms. Kitty now know how to get our attention if she want to be 'in'. If she heard we're at the kitchen, she will climb up the railing & 'meow' or she will hanging at the kitchen window, right in front of the sink.

Let see these photos:



me at 6mth & 7th mth of pregnancy

These are 2 of prego photos: 1st one was taken in 6th mth prego and 2nd was taken today at 7th months (going 8th).




Fetal Development at 30th weeks

Yesterday, i felt a bit stress - so i listen to the Lullabies baby hymnal. As i sang, baby was dancing in my belly too!! She was giving response to my singing voice :D

But then mum (in-law) called, baby kicked for little while then quite again - maybe not interested with my conversation with mum hehehe

so what happen during week 30th of pregnancy?

How your baby's growing:
Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

How your life's changing:
You may be feeling a little tired these days, especially if you're having trouble sleeping. You might also feel clumsier than normal, which is perfectly understandable. Not only are you heavier, but the concentration of weight in your pregnant belly causes a shift in your center of gravity. Plus, thanks to hormonal changes, your ligaments are more lax, so your joints are looser, which may also contribute to your balance being a bit off. Also, this relaxation of your ligaments can actually cause your feet to spread permanently, so you may have to invest in some new shoes in a bigger size.

Yeah..last nite i couldn't sleep - so i studied my Advanced Criminal Law til 4.11 am. Then i've to force myself to sleep...

Remember those mood swings you had earlier in pregnancy? The combination of uncomfortable symptoms and hormonal changes can result in a return of those emotional ups and downs. It's normal to worry about what your labor will be like or whether you'll be a good parent. But if you can't shake the blues or feel increasingly irritable or agitated, talk to your doctor or midwife. You may be among the 1 in 10 expectant women who battle depression during pregnancy.

Sometimes i do feel irritating - when i feel so, i let hubby know so he wont be hurt :) but most of the time, I'm happy-go-lucky still :D

Sunday, November 30, 2008

i'm getting bigger...

oh my...at 30th weeks of pregnancy, i got this lower backache. maybe caused by me working hard on Friday to clean up our rental property?? yeah, little bit regret did that. even after two siatsu massage, the backache keep coming back - now i've to admit being prego can't be so active like before ;)

the other nite, one of our Chinese friends got so furious when he saw me carrying a bag of 8kg rice plus 2 bag of groceries into the house. yeah, i tell you - those stuff weren't heavy at all. If too heavy, sure i'll call hubby to help me :D

at 7th month prego, i still can 'berlari-lari anak' even to climb up the stair very fast too, but sure cant do that in front of my chinese friends hahaha...the other day, i went for brisk early morning walking with hubby - after almost 2 km, i've to slow down, very, very slow as my round ligaments were bothering me!

how about my weight??? hehehe surprisingly to me, i've gained 11 pounds since my last mid-wife appointment! Hubby was laughing at me during the weight session coz i couldn't believe that i've gained sooooo much in just 1 month! I thought the 'mesin timbangan' was broken hahahaha anyway, i still can wear my prego jeans and even some of my pre-prego pants but the 'bahagian zip', dont ask'lah' hehehe sure can't zip as tummy is now way too big!

hubby said he was not surprised that i gained weight - he said, he guess so as he can't carry me anymore. Sometime it is hard for me to get up from the bed, have to ask hubby to push or pull me hahaha

i haven't lose any balancing yet, maybe coz i'm active with my pilates exercises? i loves the prego pilates exercise - feel great doing strecthing & so on..

yeah...i'm getting closer to going home! Radio stations & malls started playing x'mas songs this week but no snow yet. could it be like last year, it was snowing on x'mas day? i dont know as i'll be back in Sabah for x'mas this year :D

Thursday, November 27, 2008

North Dakota and Minessota, USA

On Friday afternoon 14 Nov 2008 in Winnipeg, hubby surprised me by saying "Come, let's go - i wanna bring u somewhere really interesting". I said "huh?? ( i was still busy browsing baby cloths at the store). Then hubby said "hehehe let's go to USA. Me "what!!" Hubby "the border crossing is not far from here. only 100 kms away". Me "OK!! Let's go".

So that afternoon around 4.30pm, we left Winnipeg to the USA-Canada border crossing. On the way, we stop by at this site:



Found 1 cache just at the bottom of the stick!

Closer to the border, we did another geocaching in a very, very small town. Hubby saw an elderly couple taking out stuff from their car and hubby offered to help. Few minutes later, hubby came back with a plate of 'ring tea cake'. He bought it for $6, as part of the fund raising project by the elderly group in that town.



We reached the border around 5.30pm, the US Custom officer was wandering what are we going to do in North Dakota in November??? Asked us to go to the custom shed for inspection - walla they found nothing illegal LOL!!





We drove a big triangle (as follow the highway) in North Dakota, crossed to Minnesota and back to North Dakota again in less than 30 minutes LOL...



Guess what we can see in North Dakota & Minnesota (2 states of USA) parts closer to Manitoba,Canada in November??? Mind me, that evening the temperature was way below the freezing degree...i think it was -11 degree!

Well, nothing much i can see at nite, so we settle at a very nice hotel in Grand Forks town, ND - 100 km away from the border. That hotel is really good, just nect to the highway.

And in the morning, on the way back to Canada, these what i can see in Grand Forks town and along the way:

A sport center in the town named after a Red-Indian leader:


A vegetable factory - we can smell potato chips when passing by this site LOL:


Then, except some building and houses...just plain fields all the way to Canada!!!







I kept asking hubby what are these North Dakota & Minnesota people doing in this very bare land & fields. Hubby said these people mostly farmers & they usually owns hundreds acres of farm land! Wow - i'm not surprise - as far as you can see, there is no hills, no mountains, just fields & sky!

I finally fell asleep while hubby was driving - i woke up only few kms away from the border and here we come again Manitoba!!!



After seeing part of Canada & little bit of USA - i truly believe indeed "Beautiful British Columbia"!!!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

When in Winnipeg..Part 2

The next morning on Friday, 14th Nov, we went for something different for brunch - Ukrainian food!!



We ordered perogies cheese & potato filling (ala2 karipap but not deep fried) and potato pancakes. So Yummy!!!





It was yummy i guess maybe becoz i was soooo hungry LOL..And for dessert, we one each got a complimentary cup cake:



After meal, we went out for geocaching and found 1 just across the road - at the army tank!



I think it was -7 degree freezing outside. so we quickly left that place and went back to down down to cast our ballots at the convention.

When in Winnipeg..

Now after sometime, i got a chance to write about our activities in Winnipeg.


We arrived on Thursday , noon - we grabbed the rented car (i think it was Hyundai) and drove to the Mint - a place where Canadian government produce coins for national circulation & also make for foreign countries orders.


The lake outside the Mint building was FROZEN!!! It was really, really cold!




It was about 2.10pm, then me & hubby (another quickly) joined a group of Mint tour up-stair. Not many visitors, only 6 of us. We can see from behind the glass wall, high above on how the coins is made from scratches to ready to go. The tour took us about 1 hour to finish.

After the tour, we went to the coins boutique downstair and there was a big pure gold block for an exhibition. Mind me...the gold block was really heavy - not sure what was the weight but i know the value was about Cad$400,000-00!! Wish i can steal this block??? There was a guard standing next to it all the time and the block was chained!! hahaha



From the Mint, we drove to down town and check in at the hotel - i took a nap while hubby checking on his e-mail. Then around 5.30pm, we went down to the Winnipeg Convention Centre. After registration, we went for dinner at the sushi restaurant and back to the Convention again.



There were (i think) thousands of Conservative members inside the hall. For the 1st time in my life here, i saw the PM of Canada just few feets away from me giving the prime speech! Unfortunately, i didn't get any good photo as i only brought with me a back-up camera of Olympus.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Winnipeg Trip


These are Canadian provinces: British Columbia (BC), Alberta (AB), Saskatchewan (SK), Manitoba (MB), Ontario (ON), Quebec (QC) - Celine Dion live here :D, New Brunswick (NB), Nova Scotia (NS), Prince Edwards (PE)?? maybe not sure now LOL, Yukon (YT), Nunavut (NU), NT - you google it 'lah' hehehe




We went to Winnipeg, MT on 13 Nov til 15 Nov recently - o well, we didn't spent all the days in Winnipeg coz on evening 14th til 15 noon, we went to North Dakota & Minnesota, USA!


Now let's talk about the Winnipeg trip. See the photo below: as you guys know, we live in Chilliwack, BC (not mark on the map but somewhere near Vancouver). We left from Abbotsford Int. Airport early morning on 13 Nov to Calgary, AB.





There is about 3 hours different between BC and Manitoba, and took us almost 4 hours flight (including lose of time) to reach Winnipeg from Abbotsford. If driving, hubby said will take about 2 days to arrive.


We only stop about 45 mins in Calgary Airport before continue flight to Winnipeg. Calgary look sooooo dry but yet so cold - i assume so by just looking outside the window at the airport and aeroplane.



Now i believe that Alberta is not as beautiful as BC hehehe check out this photos:






We arrived in Winnipeg about 12.20 pm - it was snowing in MT!!! No wonder my friend said 'you're going to WINTER-peg' hahaha







No matter what - I still love to live in the "Beautiful British Columbia"!!!! :D








mexican food

it was on Monday 10 Nov that me & hubby went to cross the border to Washington, USA. We went to US to check our American mailbox then did some geocaching - i don't even remember names of those places that we visited that day.

After walking for few hours at several parks, me & hubby finally decided to have a Mexican dinner. Look at this photo - do you think i can finish this food myself?

WHAT A BIG FRIED FISH!!!!! I only can ate very2 small portion of the fish - the rest of it "tapau" - i ate little bit of it again few days later, then finally share it with our neighbourhood cat, Ms. Kitty. She enjoys it very much!

Meanwhile hubby also ordered his food - i think it was "Chilereno" - not spicy chilli cooked with egg & cheese, serve with rice, bean & salad - quite tasty!


Monday, November 17, 2008

10 Stupid things women do to mess up their lives...

I was cleaning up the book shelve at the nursery room tonite when i found this book "Ten stupid things women do to mess up their lives" by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. i bought this book in Kuala Lumpur on 12 March 2004 - that's the date i wrote on this book ;)

However due to the copyright act, i cant write here what are the 10 things - i only can quote 1 of it i.e "Stupid Conception-making babies for the Worst reasons." Read this book if you can especially single women, good for knowledge so we wont blindly make any 1 of the 10 stupid things.

Remember; ignorant of the law is no excuse ;)

28th weeks of pregnancy

time pass by very fast, especially when we're busy running around ;)

on Friday 14th Nov, marked my 28th weeks of pregnancy - baby is now has set up her own sleep-awake patterns. Sometimes baby like to 'punch & kick' me at the same time! Another time baby got hiccups.

So here is my baby's fetal weekly development, cut & paste from the babycenter.com website:

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Friday, November 7, 2008

The Wedding

I love to see these wedding photos - how i look different in both occasions eventhough i was wearing the same ivory wedding gown by Vera Wang:

1st Wedding celebration in Canada, October 2005:





2nd Wedding celebration in Sabah, August 2007:





This photo was taken at the end of the celebration:

Pinky & my cat Durong

Hahaha..when i saw these photos - i recalled the nite: Pinky was about to sleep, Durong came to sleep next to her, but Pinky kept pushing him/her (dont remember Durong's sex). Finally, Pinky fell asleep, deep sleep til didn't even realized that Durong has came back & slept very,very close to her!

I wanted to laugh, but hold it. Then i grabbed my camera and snapped these photos.

1st pose:


2nd pose:


3rd pose:


Next morning, I asked Pinky why she pushed away Durong the nite before. She said "I dont like her". Then i showed these photos to Pinky, she only can say: "eeeeeee" hahaha

My cats...

Another session on browsing my albums this evening- found these interesting photos. I took these photos during my last trip to Sabah earlier this year, maybe in March? i think so.

We're busy renovating my mum house in KM, so did these cats - these 3 cats were busy to be 'on board' too. Started by Buding (R) followed by Durong (L) then Shrek also jumped in:



Don't know what are they thinking - just fo fun ride, i guess ;)



Another nite, i was supposed to sleep next to my mum (hubby didn't come with me - he was busy working in Canada). mmmm..when i walked into the room, guess what? These cats controlled my spot!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

I'm proud of...



I read from Utusan Malaysia online today (Canada time) that 6 ex-judges whom had been 'suspended' during an incident 20 years ago, have been awarded ex-gratia compensation by the government.Well at least, the government revealed how much the amount today ;)

I'm so proud to say that one of the x-judges trained me (& my badge) at my 4th year in law school. It was in year of 2001 and if i'm not mistaken the course was "Professional Practice 2: Litigation".

For me, being trained in litigation course by 1 of the best judges in Malaysia was the most glorious moment in law school- so that's what i feel, til today. I still remember how Tan Sri Azmi always praised me for my 'ideas' during those litigation training :D

One of the ideas that i used was "the PP was not authorized by law as his name has not been gazetted during the hearing" - yeah, i remember Tan Sri Azmi's eyebrow was 'terangkat" & i got extra point for that..LOL extra research, extra points! and i also always use "bahasa berbunga & simpulan bahasa" to close my submissions hehehe

Another time, i did made a mistake during another submission - i was so lazy to think for new idea so i said the crime was small & Tan Sri said "no,no,no you can't say that..bla,bla,bla.." Anyhow, i did skor "A" for this course :D



RM10.5j bayar 6 hakim

Oleh hata wahari




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KUALA LUMPUR 6 Nov. – Kerajaan hari ini mengumumkan telah membayar ex-gratia berjumlah RM10.5 juta kepada bekas Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Salleh Abas dan lima lagi bekas hakim kanan yang terlibat dalam krisis kehakiman, 20 tahun lalu.

Salleh menerima bayaran tertinggi dengan RM5 juta, Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin (RM2 juta), Tan Sri George Edward Seah Kim Seng (RM2 juta) manakala Tan Sri Wan Hamzah Mohd. Salleh, Allahyarham Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdolcadeer dan Allahyarham Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh masing-masing mendapat RM500,000.

Jumlah bayaran itu diumumkan oleh Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz semasa menggulung perbahasan peringkat jawatankuasa Bajet 2009 bagi Jabatan Perdana Menteri pada persidangan Dewan Rakyat hari ini.

Beberapa Ahli Parlimen pembangkang termasuk Ahli Parlimen Wangsa Maju, Wee Choo Keong sebelum ini telah mendesak kerajaan supaya mendedahkan jumlah pembayaran ex-gratia itu yang diumumkan pemberiannya oleh Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pada April lalu.

Mohamed Nazri berkata, bayaran itu bukanlah jumlah yang sesuai kerana ia melibatkan harga diri dan maruah bekas hakim-hakim berkenaan.

‘‘Kerajaan tidak pernah mempertikaikan bayaran yang dibuat kepada bekas-bekas hakim itu tetapi Ahli Parlimen Wangsa Maju (Wee Choo Keong, PKR-Wangsa Maju) yang mempertikaikan jumlah bayaran tersebut.

‘‘Sebenarnya kita tidak boleh meletak berapa harga yang sebenarnya patut dibayar sebab ia soal harga diri, mana boleh letak harga, tetapi kita bayar dan anggap jumlah tersebut sesuai,” jelasnya.

Nazri menjawab celahan N. Gobalakrishnan (PKR-Padang Serai) yang menyatakan bayaran itu terlalu rendah berbanding jawatan Salleh yang merupakan Ketua Hakim Negara adalah satu jawatan lebih penting daripada Perdana Menteri.

Jawapan Nazri itu dibantah keras oleh Choo Keong yang turut mencelah dengan menyatakan ia adalah terlalu tinggi memandangkan bekas hakim-hakim itu menerima bayaran pencen.

‘‘Apa yang dikatakan oleh Choo Keong itu mempertikaikan jumlah bayaran. Gobalakrisnan menyatakan terlalu rendah dan Ahli Parlimen Wangsa Maju pula menyatakan terlalu tinggi, jadi tidak ada kesepakatan dalam jumlah bayaran yang harus diberikan, maka tindakan kerajaan adalah betul,” katanya.

Beliau berkata, lima bekas hakim itu turut menerima pencen bulanan iaitu Salleh sebanyak RM5,102.16, Wan Suleiman (RM4,815), George Seah (RM5,916.90) Eusoffe (RM4,815), Wan Hamzah (RM6,508.59) dan Azmi (RM5,916.90).

Nazri menambah, apa jua bentuk bayaran kepada bekas hakim-hakim itu, ia tidak bermaksud bahawa kerajaan bersalah.

Pembayaran ex-gratia itu dibuat sebagai menghargai sumbangan bekas hakim-hakim berkenaan yang terlibat dalam krisis kehakiman dan merupakan langkah kerajaan memulihkan semula kewibawaan badan kehakiman.

Ex-gratia tersebut telah diserahkan oleh bekas Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Senator Datuk Zaid Ibrahim pada Jun lalu kepada hakim-hakim terlibat.

Bagaimanapun Zaid enggan mendedahkan jumlahnya atas alasan permintaan oleh hakim berkenaan sendiri. Zaid meletakkan jawatan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri pada 15 September lalu.

Nazri menjelaskan, bekas hakim-hakim itu telah ditamatkan perkhidmatan lebih awal seperti saranan panel yang telah bersidang berhubung kes tersebut dan bukan dipecat oleh kerajaan.

“Sekiranya bekas hakim-hakim itu dipecat mereka tidak layak mendapat pencen tetapi kerana telah ditamatkan perkhidmatan, maka mereka layak dibayar pencen mengikut Akta Pencen,” katanya.

Nazri juga memaklumkan, kerajaan bersedia untuk membentuk panel hakim lain bagi menilai semula kes bekas hakim-hakim terbabit sekiranya terdapat fakta baru.

‘‘Saya pegang apa yang dikatakan sebelum ini bahawa kerajaan bersedia untuk menubuhkan sebuah panel lain untuk menilai kes bekas hakim-hakim tersebut sekiranya terdapat bukti-bukti baru, tetapi pada masa ini tidak ada maka tidak perlu kerajaan tubuhkan panel baru,” katanya.