The day earlier, arwah was getting his dialysis treatment done at Ampang Puteri Hospital, like he has done for the past two years, three times a week.  He complained of stomach pains to his doctor and later, he was admitted to the ICU.  Though critical, he showed good signs of recovery.  He was given some pills to help him sleep and his family was asked to go home.  Everyone was eager to come back in the morning to see arwah.  Then, after 3 in the morning, they received a call from the doctor, informing them the sad news.  Mama called me in at 3:20.  I was in Kuching with the kids.  I couldn’t go back to sleep since then.  I started packing … We were going back to KL …

May Allah bless his soul.  Arwah has been good to everyone

Al-fatihah

Again, I am not there for the funeral and kenduri.  I almost got on the express bus with my brother, bringing the kids along.  Then, after some thoughts and discussion with hubby and brother, it was best that I didn’t go.  *sigh*  They said taking the kids on the bus and being on it all through the night is just scary …

I am so disappointed in myself for not able to visit her the past three years.  I’m afraid I had a lot of excuses that made me rethink of my plans to visit her in Balingian:  work, small children, travel budget, no one accompanying me on the trip, etc.  I should be ashamed of myself.  Regretting now is useless …

She was a strong woman.  My grandfather passed away more than 35 years ago.  I think I was about 3 or 4 years old.  He suffered from TB.

She had a stroke some years ago.  With traditional massages and traditional herbal medication, she recovered slowly.  She could move and walked again.

Lately, she started to forget things … sometimes she would forget that she has showered, eaten, etc.

I hope I’m able to go back to Balingian soon for my aunt’s makan hol 100 days and my grandmother’s makan hol 20 days early next month.  Insya’allah … That’s my plan with my brother for the moment.

I pray to Allah that my grandmother and my aunt happy and well-taken care of with Him.

Al-fatihah …

But this particular bird attracted my attention.  It was pecking on the trunk of the mango tree.  I was thinking, “this is not the birds we usually see everyday.  it must be a woodpecker.”  Sure enough it was.  It kept on pecking on the tree.  Then, I think it realized that there was a watcher nearby.  It hopped up to the top.

The woodpecker head was red and so was its wings.  It had a distinct crest.  I googled and found a nice clear picture of the bird … the “banded woodpecker” (Picus miniaceus) …

Courtesy of digdeep1962.blogspot.com

I think it’s been about 2 weeks since I last wrote.  I wonder how you have been doing.

We had company from KL the first week, then we all fell sick after that.  It took us a complete week to recover.  The kids got the seasonal virus that’s been going around and I got food-poisoned!

Anyway, on with my post for today …

I was watching Bella on NTV7 this morning and they had a segment on pregnant women and health.  One O&G professor from UM said the rule of thumb for women to gain weight when pregnant is between 11 and 16 kg and if the woman is obese, it would be around 7kg.

Only 11 to 16 kilos??  Gee … I was overweight!!!  During my last pregnancy with the twins, my last recorded weight was 89.5!  At the start, I was about 62kilos.  I gained about 27.5kilos! Well, yeah, I’m better when I eat.  Unlike to some, they can’t eat as they can’t keep the food down.  For me, it’s the other way round.  Hahaha …

My oh my … Dr. Siti never stopped me from gaining more weight.  She said I’m doing okay  You know, come to think of it, she’s one part of the pregnancy that always make me happy …  Thanks, Dr. Siti!

I realized this sudden attack was caused when my mum and I had to rearrange the furniture because the twins were constantly climbing them and could have fallen.

We had to take Zayan to the clinic the next morning.  The clinics in Kuching close at 9.00 pm.  So, I had to do whatever I could to ease his condition that night.  I also asked Azleen what else could be done as I knew that she was asthmatic before. These were what I did for Zayan:

• The air-conditioning was switched off
• I made him wear a singlet underneath his PJs
• I rubbed Vicks to his chest, back, the soles of his feet and calves
• I added an extra or two pillows so that his head and upper body is raised much higher

Zayan had problem sleeping.  So, I stayed up with him while comforting him till he fell asleep around 1 am. The next day, we took him to Klinik Cahaya.  Doctor asked whether Zayan has been unwell earlier.  I said, “yes, he was having the flu and I have been giving him flu medicine [Loratadine (from Axcel)]. When we saw the doctor, he gave Zayan the neb treatment and some medicine; antibiotic, cetirizine syrup for flu, diphenhydramine syrup for cough, and salcodyl syrup for asthma and also to help with the phlegm.

The doctor also recommended that I could give him some warm water to drink.  It’ll warm up his chest. I googled and found some good sites to refer to know more about asthma and what to do when there is an asthma attack:

• http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/asthma.htm
• http://petualama.blogspot.com/2011/03/home-remedies-for-asthma-to-prevent.html; this writer advises to seek advice and do research prior to using home remedy
• http://asthma.about.com/od/asthmabasics/a/Asthma_handle.htm
• http://www.noattacks.org/; a site that tells all about asthma attacks in children
• http://www.healthquadrant.com/asthma-attack-treatment.html

I remembered finding one at Poppies.  I vaguely remember it was green with red dots and costs only RM10.00.  Pretty affordable, that one.

So, we went to Poppies with the twins.  I found the very same diaper and too bad it was the only one they had or left!  We need two diapers but they only have one!

We hope other stores would have swimming diapers.  It’s rare for shops to carry swimming diapers for little ones as it’s very rare for babies to start swimming in Kuching.

After paying at Poppies (the diaper cost RM10.90), we headed to Parkson’s swimming gear section.  Nope, they don’t have any swimming diapers.  The sales assistant suggested we go check out a store on the Ground Floor.  And, off we went.  We asked the store lady whether they carry any swimming diapers and she said, “Yes, There’s one left”.  Erk! Azleen exclaimed, “One?!”, while I exclaimed, “And it’s PINK!”.  Azleen quickly went through the items on the hanger. Phew!  They have some more and they’re blue!  Thank god!  Hahahaha … imagine having one of the boys wearing pink.  We paid RM15.00 for the blue swimming diaper.  It’s original price was RM29.90.

Then, in the evening, we brought Zayan and the twins to the MBKS pool.  The twins looked so cute in their swimming diapers.  [Photos to follow soon]

Well, it’s a blog that provides information for parents on ” … raising their kids to have courage for the challenges on the path ahead”.

The blog is inspired by a traditional folk tale from Ethiopia.  Read it here.  It also gives top 10 reasons to read the blog.  I am sure I will like this blog after I’ve read through the posts.  I’m sure you will too

OH, by the way, the blog is managed by two women, Lisa Dungate and Jennifer Armstrong.   Good work, ladies!

Lisa Dungate, a parenting coach, child/family therapist, and family life educator.

Jennifer Armstrong, an award-winning author of over 100 books for children and teens

I will put up photos from yesterday later.

*updated with photos 14 April 2011

Then, Zaheer brought to dinner at Premier 101 to eat Ayam Penyet.  I must say, it was the best ayam penyet I’ve tasted so far!

Nearby, there is a cafe cum bakery called Delizze.  I’m quite surprised there is a place this good in Kuching and it’s food pricing is really affordable.  I must make a trip there one day with mum and family one day.  It’s not to be missed.  I found a post by jfook with photos of the yummy pastries and ala carte dishes.  Another post by John Wong here.