Pregnancy throwback

When we first knew that we were going to be parents, the only first three persons we told was our parents. But we even asked my parents-in-law to keep it from the husband's siblings first. That was right after I went to confirm my pregnancy with the doctor and was told I was 5 weeks pregnant. We announced that we were expecting to the siblings few weeks later and then my other closest family and friends. We had our own reasons why we prefer to keep it secret. Well my campus mates knew it later anyway. You just can't hide the big belly for too long, can you? 

So because of the secrecy, I did not post any pregnancy-related photos on social media. Not even my own full photo with obvious baby bump. Hence for the anniversary of us knowing about the pregnancy, I'm gonna do a massive throwback! And just because I did not update this blog for too long I have too many things to share :p 

And no, I'm not going to post the photo of the pee stick.

First glimpse of little Balqis at 8 weeks.

Honestly I could not see which was she, just trust the doctor with the mark there.

Sunnah on the seventh day of a newborn

Samurah narrated that Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) said, “The boy is mortgaged by his Aqiqa; slaughtering should be done for him on the seventh day, he should be given a name and his head should be shaved.” 

(Hadith No. 1522, Chapters on Sacrifice, Jami’ At-Tirmidhi, Vol. 3) 

When Balqis was still in my tummy, after the 7th month or so, husband and I had some discussions on what to name him/her (we didn't know if she was a boy or a girl yet), when should we have her aqiqah - on the seventh day or wait longer so we could have a proper majlis, and so on and so forth. But every discussions ended up with no conclusion.

Due to not wanting to know if I was carrying a girl or a boy, we had to at least list down few boy and few girl names. And man that was not easy. We've been checking good names for babies from books to websites to phone apps (yes, there are many!). And even though I had this (I think) motherly instinct that I was having a baby girl inside, my list of name are full with only boy names. Husband was not much a help as he also did not have any preference on naming our kids. But both of us agree on one thing - we want single name only.

So every other day it was like, "So apa nama anak kita?" then we both laughed. And no further discussion pfftt.

7 days old no-name baby girl

Hippopo Baby Spa & Wellness, Queensbay Mall, Penang

Since I found out I was pregnant, I've always wanted to bring our future kid to the Hippopo Baby Spa and Wellness. All the photos and videos of the babies swimming happily are so cute! I was so happy to know that they were opening a branch in Penang.

So, last month we finally took Balqis for her first swim and massage session at the Hippopo Baby Spa, Queensbay Mall, Penang. Mummy got so overly excited! Yela... zaman mummy dulu mana ada benda macam ni kan... :p The visit was unplanned actually. We were on our way to Penang Island for just a weekend ronda-ronda when I suddenly remembered about the baby spa.  Asked husband if we should go, he said yes why not and quickly Google the spa phone number. Luckily there was still a free slot for my baby B for that day.

Hippopo Baby Spa Queensbay Mall branch is located on the first floor. Not sure which wing - can't remember - but it's near the Maybank area. We were welcomed with happy and friendly faces when we arrived. They introduced and explained their services and all. We then registered for a single spa session for Balqis. They were giving away gifts as a celebration of CNY and look what Balqis got..!

Yeayy lucky baby B! To be used for next visit!

The session started with a light warm up to get the baby started. 

The incredible journey

I had safely deliver a baby girl last November, Alhamdulillah.

My pregnancy went smoothly - no major allergy or critical morning sickness at the early stage - just need to take proper food and supplement for low hemoglobin level. But almost at the end of the pregnancy, I started to had high blood pressure. I was warned the dangerous of having high blood pressure during pregnancy and was told that I MIGHT be forced to deliver if my blood pressure increased up to dangerous level. Not something that would help me calm and decrease my blood pressure, right? -__-

My last pregnancy photo was during husband's convocation.

6 November 2014.

Hello, blog

I think I've forgotten how to update the blog.

It's been almost a year! Why did I even bother renewing the domain last year if I were to neglect this blog kan. Pppfft.

Raudhatus Sakinah and Julaybib

Last weekend, Team Syuhada of Kindness Malaysia (Penang region) went to Rumah Raudhatus Sakinah (RS) in Sungai Bakap, Penang.

Raudhatus Sakinah was established as an institution that provides shelter and counselling to victims of teenage girls that are mostly the victims of social illness such as abuse, mistreatment, neglect, psychological stress, rape, incest and so on. RS tries to help teenagers who are involved to boost their self-confidence and their ability to become a useful person to society and religion.

RS has been in operation since August 1998 under the operation of the Wanita Pertubuhan Jamaah Islah Malaysia (WJIM). RS is an ongoing project to help people deal with social problems, especially among teenagers. RS has officially registered under the Care Centre Act 1993, the Social Welfare Department.

The RS home in Penang was opened in 2007. Besides Penang, RS shelters are also available in Sungai Buloh (HQ), Kelantan, Johor and Kuala Lumpur.

The Raudhatus Sakinah, the peaceful garden

The kitchen cabinet project

My love for DIY stuff broadened from just making handmade card, simple handcraft, beading my own wedding dress or scrapbooking to home décor and furnishing. After the kononnya successful DIY projects at home, which I call Projek DIY AminJulia 1.0 and 2.0, I asked husband for more DIY projects. So we decided to do a makeover to our old cupboard to a simple kitchen cabinet to place our some still-in-the-box wedding gifts.

Yes, we did our projects including painting in the living room. -____-"

LG Pocket Photo Printer

I have not done any reviews since my Nokia N8 Maxis 10 entries. This post is specially dedicated to Paeh as he's the one asking for it – and yeah to tell you guys how cool my new gadget is. :p

I found my new LG pocket photo printer by chance. I was actually laptop-browsing with husband at a computer store in Penang. There was a big sale on the store so there the store was packed with people. I saw this gadget in a glance on our way out of the store and it caught my eyes, and heart since I was also thinking of buying a new Polaroid style instant camera. But I didn’t buy it on the spot, neither got the chance to really look at it with the crowd at that time.

I googled and read about the photo printer and started making comparison on the pros and cons if I buy the photo printer or an instant camera. 

Lucky iPad Mini

The Camera Museum, Penang did a lucky draw contest on the Facebook fanpage and the winner would get an iPad mini. I saw the post on their FB page somewhere in October and totally forgot about it. A day before the closing date, they post a final reminder for those who wanted to join. It was as simple as post your photo in The Camera Museum, and get minimum 20 likes to be eligible for the lucky draw.

So I looked for my photo when I went there, post in on their FB page, and spammed my family & close friends asking them to like the photo before the closing time. I had only few hours left! I think by the time the contest was closed, I only got like 21 likes. Just nice! But I was thinking - Please la they don't choose the winner by the highest like the photo got, or else confirm lah I won't get it. Hahaha.

Days past after the closing date and I totally forgot about it, until a FB notification came in - a cousin just liked the photo of me (yeah after the closing date). Then I remember, eh, have they announce the winner? So I checked The Camera Museum FB page and need to scroll down and down and down (they post photos on their wall like 20 photos a day - nasib baik lah beautiful photos :p) and saw......

Hiking up Bukit To'kun (Bukit Mertajam)

Husband and I had been planning to climb (more to jungle trekking, actually) to Pantai Kerachut at Penang National Park for quite some times. So as we decided to go last Sunday, husband made me go for a walk/jog every morning to warm ourselves myself up for the activity since last two weeks, since I have not been exercising for a long time. And my last hiking trip was to Broga Hill, Semenyih - that was in February 2011! Well yeah, good luck for me!

However, we found out that it was raining in Penang on that Saturday evening. I told husband that it was not a good idea to go hiking after the rain. It would be very slippery and all. But since we’ve already made up our mind to go hiking, I Google-d to find any hiking places in Seberang Perai instead and I found out about Bukit Mertajam @ Bukit To’kun. That place is really near to our home and we didn’t even know there’s a hill to climb! So we decided to go there the next day.

Bukit To’kun, or some people call it Bukit Mertajam, is located at Cherok To’kun in Bukit Mertajam. It is part of the Bukit Mertajam Recreational Park where locals bring the children for a picnic and swim by the creek. Bukit To’kun has two paths for hiking – the jungle track and the tar road track. Since it was drizzling before dawn at the area, we had to choose the tar track to avoid the slippery path, again.