A Homemaker’s Diary

I’m a mom now.

A baby boy was born on the eve of Aidil Adha. Can’t believe that the bundle of joy is finally here after the whole length of pregnancy, the morning sickness, the back pain, the 6 hours of contraction, the labor pain, the episiotomy (which is nothing compared to the contraction), the agonizing pain after the episiotomy (heavily relied on Ponstan)..

and now many of the sleepless nights (though I still manage to doze off every now and then), the never ending diaper change, me being best friend with the baby wipes (thanks for the invention or otherwise I might not be able to wipe his poop 10 times a day), the berpantang regime..

I am grateful that Hubby is around to take care during this first week, he cooks, cleans, bathe me and baby, giving in to my demand..nak minum milo, dah lapar nak mkn nasik..sapukan param, pilis, ikat bengkung, rendam herba mandian, herba basuhan..

Which comes to the question, what should my son calls his dad – ayah, bapak, abah, daddy? Babah sounds like a good one, not too garang and sound manja enough, since abah brings many unhappy thought and memories for both of us although we love abah, well, the idea of what an abah should be..

I will be starting the complete berpantang regime next Monday. I requested the confinement lady to come in the afternoon since morning is kind of hectic for me and the baby. He usually sleeps more in the afternoon so that it won’t interrupt the bertungku, mengurut, bertangas process etc.

Oh, my dinner is here..another round of sayur air and ikan bakar..huhu..can’t wait for these 44 days to be over.

I don’t know about others, but these days I noticed that it has been hot (sometimes I feel super hot), day and night. Thanks to the air cond in the bedroom, I always run upstairs for the comforting coolness it provides especially when I want to relax and watch TV.

It rained last night but I think it didn’t help much in cooling down the weather over here. But somehow I feel like drinking teh tarik at mamak tonight…huhu..(if I could manage to put on proper clothes and tudung etc and head to the restaurant), somehow I feel that teh tarik doesn’t taste good if you tapau it..haha! Must be the extra dirt on the mug that they use to fill up the tea and serve you..yikes..if you check closely how they wash the mugs, they hardly use soap, simply rinse with water, fill up with new batch of tea and offer it to the next customer..heh! But surely that doesn’t turn me off from ordering one.

On another note, I continue my monthly subscription with MangkukTingkat.com. Reason being this month they don’t use mangkuk tingkat, but use the microwaveable container instead. Plus I still have deposit from last month’s subscription and entitle to 7 more meals which they failed to deliver. So if I were to give birth later, Hubby can eat the lunch and simply throw all those containers. Less hassle and at least Hubby will have something to eat during lunch. Although the food is not that tasty but still it would be better than nothing, right!

I think I just can’t stand the heat downstairs. I better get some shower and watch Kiteretsu upstairs while waiting for Hubby to come home. Just need to check the fish I am grilling in the oven. I decided to cook for dinner tonight. Pity Hubby for having ridiculous lunch in the office..ada ke menu Chinese herbal egg, sayur tauge and plain rice, I don’t know what on earth the caterer is thinking..feeding a bunch of employees in confinement?..huhu!

Hubby told me that his colleague’s wife with EDD a day earlier than mine gave birth on Sunday…that guy email everyone at the office since he would like to take the 5 day paternity leaves..waaa…when will it be my turn? I know that I have like a few more weeks to go (if it’s overdue) but still I can’t wait to see the baby coming out. Maybe the baby wants to be a Christmas baby..heh! Hubby has been asking the baby daily whether the baby has decided when to come out..siap pesan suruh SMS dulu kalau nak keluar..ceh!

We went to the antenatal class on Sunday, learning the breathing technique, how to pant, push, massage during labor, care after delivery etc which I found very useful. Actually there were many more sessions in the morning, but I was too tired to wake up in the morning. Since the organizer told me that it was OK to attend the afternoon session, we decided to go anyway.

After that we went to Rimbun Klasik as I wanted to eat Western style melayu..haha! Before that I had pengat pisang at Restoren Amir while Hubby had nasi campor for lunch. (We rushed to the afternoon session class and didn’t have any lunch, luckily they provided tea..kalau tak mau kebulur..huhu!) Anyway, the sirloin steak was so tough, but for a set that costs RM13 what do you expect, right!

Monday, Hubby decided to work from home. After all we have appointment for the weekly check up. Surprisingly when we reached the clinic around 5:20pm, there were like 4 people in the queue before my turn. The baby is still not engage, so the gynae told me that by next week she will have to do the vaginal exam to check…huhu..am I going for c-sect? Can I deliver normal? huhu…

I hope things will go well. Please pray for me! Whatever it is, normal or c-sect as long as the baby is safe, I am OK with it.

I can’t believe it’s already been our 5th wedding anniversary. For some they already have kids at play school or even tadika..and yet we are anxiously waiting for our firstborn..heh!

Hubby was on leave on the day itself, courtesy of his mat saleh boss who insisted that he took the day off. I was out of idea where to have special lunch or dinner for the anniversary, (it couldn’t be dinner since Hubby has meeting at 10pm) so we ended up going to the Curve. At first I felt like eating something sweet so we decided to have pancakes at Paddington House of Pancake. After all it was around tea time when we reached The Curve and we already had lunch sent by MangkukTingkat.com earlier.

But once I read the menu I felt like trying their savoury galette since I have been wanting to eat anchovies and sun dried tomatoes. Blame it on Jamie Oliver for showing anchovies in his recipe..I think for those who hate budu, cincalok and all sorts of ikan masin bacin you will find this mat saleh anchovies as repulsive..haha..(will blog more about the food later in my other blog)

Hubby was sad that his favorite Colonial Times restaurant has been replaced by Bondi Bar and Grill, maybe not many people are willing to pay so much for Indian food thus the demise of such a nice and cosy restaurant..huhu!

We then walked to Ikano, with my sole intention to check the stock of the baby bedding at Aussino. And check out what I bought, finally!

It’s the parents’ wedding anniversary and yet the baby got the present..heh! I was so happy that I managed to buy the bedding set. Now my precious one can sleep in the baby cot with all the comfort of 100% cotton surrounding by the lion, monkey and zebra..haha! I love the other design that they have of cows, but since I am yet to try the quality of Aussino, we will buy that other set later.

We went to Borders and I bought an anniversary card for Hubby. I was planning to make my own card using all the scrapbooking and cardmaking items I have in stock but I guess the ready made one was easier to choose…(tu pon I have to halau Hubby go see books and magazine so that I can choose the card for him..heh!) Hubby got a card for me the day earlier, konon2 singgah Jusco to buy KFC but actually to get a card for me..keh keh! Thanks Hubby, I really treasure it.

On the way back, we stopped by at Pelita Nasi Kandar in Subang, tapau the food as our anniversary dinner…(remember we have to rush home for 10pm conference call). I bought another stack of DVDs (there is one DVD shop in front of Pelita..shhh..) including Max Payne, (bodoh la citer tu…I watched merely because of Mark Wahlberg) But I have a few more DVDs like The Duchess, Madagascar 2 to watch so hopefully they aren’t all disappointing.

Well, that’s what happened on the wedding anniversary day! It might sound boring and not extravagant enough for a celebration but I was happy enough to spend it with the man I love. Hopefully we will have many more wedding anniversary to celebrate in years to come.

Remember yesterday I wrote about researching more on things like what type of person, what type of blogger bla bla..here is the outcome of my personality (psychology) type.

The basic is there are four types that corresponds to the classic four temperaments : Idealist, Traditionalist, Hedonist and Rationalist. You can take the temperament test to find out your basic type.

I am in the Hedonist type. Here is the description of what people in Hedonist type are like:

Hedonists want to be free, not tied down, confined, or obligated, to do as they wish when they wish, to enjoy today, to be impulsive, to have a life of action which repudiates long term goals, objectives, or plans, to be active just to be active, to do what they feel the urge to do, to experience excitement, to be seen by others as being free to act, as free spirits, to be exciting, optimistic, cheerful, light-hearted, and full of fun.

Checking out further into the Hedonist type, there are 4 types : Self-Confident, Adventurous, Mercurial and Exuberant. After reading through I think I am a Mercurial personality.

These are seven characteristic traits and behaviors of the Mercurial personality style;

1. Romantic attachment. Mercurial individuals must always be deeply involved in a romantic relationship with one person.

2. Intensity. They experience a passionate, focused attachment in all their relationships. Nothing that goes on between them and other people is trivial, nothing taken lightly.

3. Heart. They show what they feel. They are emotionally active and reactive. Mercurial types put their hearts into everything.

4. Unconstraint. They are uninhibited, spontaneous, fun-loving, and undaunted by risk.

5. Activity. Energy marks the Mercurial style. These individuals are lively, creative, busy, and engaging. They show initiative and can stir others to activity.

6. Open mind. They are imaginative and curious, willing to experience and experiment with other cultures, roles, and value systems and to follow new paths.

7. Alternate states. People with Mercurial style are skilled at distancing or distracting themselves from reality when it is painful or harsh.

And these are the top strengths of Mercurial type:

“Creativity [originality, ingenuity]: Thinking of novel and productive ways to conceptualize and do things; includes artistic achievement but is not limited to it”

“Curiosity [interest, novelty-seeking, openness to experience]: Taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake; finding subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and discovering”

“Vitality [zest, enthusiasm, vigor, energy]: Approaching life with excitement and energy; Not doing things halfway or halfheartedly; living life as an adventure; feeling alive and activated”

“Love: Valuing close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated; being close to people”

“Kindness [generosity, nurturance, care, compassion, altruistic love, “niceness”]: Doing favors and good deeds for others; helping them; taking care of them

“Hope [optimism, future-mindedness, future orientation]: Expecting the best in the future and working to achieve it; believing that a good future is something that can be brought about”

“Humor [playfulness]: Liking to laugh and tease; bringing smiles to other people; see the light side; making (not necessarily telling) jokes”

Oh the best part is, among the list of careers and jobs people of the Mercurial type tend to enjoy doing is floral designer and teacher…haha!