shmontel

Wishlist : Nursery Rocker

When Sarah was 3-4 weeks old, she was a very colicky baby. Besides Infacol, the only thing that sooth her is for me to hug her close to my chest and rocked ourselves back and forth till she fell asleep. Every night. For 2 weeks at least. And the backache that I have to bear afterwards…no need for me to describe lah.

Since colic is common in a newborn, i feel that it’s better for me to be prepared for its recurrence during my confinement period next month. If there’s no other way to calm the baby, at least there must be a better way for the mommy to be comfortable while comforting the baby, right? (wah…..so obvious ayat ada udang di sebalik batu!)

To cut things short, I want a rocking chair!

I wish to have a comfy-upholstered-grandma-like rocking chair like the very empuk Carl Fredricksen and Ellie’s sofa in the movie Up. I can imagine myself snuggling with the baby with kakak Sarah menyendeng on my lap while the daddy happily conquer the big bed. Hehe.

And a few days ago, I found this picture of this beautiful nursery, plus there’s that very empuk rocking chair that I want!!! i like! Malaysian people of the internet, tell me pleeassee, tell me where can I find this rocking chair here. I don’t dare to step in those high end furniture shop, too scared that I’ll find something nice but of course giler expensive. Otherwise, the furniture sold out there seems to shout the word UGLY plus they are not-that-cheap too! Do I hear the word ‘KIASU!’?

Oh well, I might end up with this Poang rocking chair from where else. Tested it before, it does rocks well , and quite comfy (or the comfy part might be because the one i tested made of the more premium cover *hoho*). At least it serves the purpose (to rock), unlike the Lillberg rocking chair that I used to fancy. Not anymore after i tried it out in person, not fit to be called a rocking chair at all!

Note:  How come my ‘HAVEN’T BOUGHT YET’ items in my baby-shopping-list are left with all the expensive ones? Erk!

Being a mother : By unknown Author

We are sitting at lunch when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of ’starting a family.’
‘We’re taking a survey,’ she says, half-joking. ‘Do you think I should have a baby?’
‘It will change your life,’ I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral.
‘I know,’ she says, ‘no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations….’
But that is not what I meant at all.
I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but that becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.
I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking ‘What if that had been MY child?’
That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.
I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to primitive level of a bear protecting her cub.
That an urgent call of ‘Mom!’ will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moment’s hesitation. I feel I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood.
She might arrange for child care but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby’s sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of her discipline to keep her from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.
I want my daughter to know that everyday decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy’s desire to go to the men’s room rather than the women’s at McDonald’s will become a major dilemma.
That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that rest-room.
However she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself.
That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child.
That she would give it up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years - not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.
I want her to know that a Cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor. My daughter’s relationship with her husband will change,
but not in the way she thinks..
I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child.
I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.
I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving. I hope she will understand why I can think rationally about most issues, but become temporarily insane when I discuss the threat of nuclear war to my children’s future.
I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike.
I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or a cat for the first time.
I want her to taste the joy that is so real, it actually hurts.
My daughter’s quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes.
‘You’ll never regret it,’ I finally say.
Then I reach across the table, squeeze my daughter’s hand and offer a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all of the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.
This blessed gift from Allah!
Being a Mother.

[Taken from a comment from this article from this wonderful blog. I can’t believe it took me so long to discover this great blog!]

Pregnancy massage

For this pregnancy, i had a craving to ‘pamper’ myself. Probably i shouldn’t call it a craving, because at 2nd trimester, i actually felt that that the baby already pushing my pelvic bone till i find it hard to lie down & get up *tsk tsk*. FYI, i had the same experience when carrying Sarah but it started only at mid of 3rd trimester! And this time around, it began during my honeymoon trimester *gaaahhh*! It would get worse if during the day i had a site work - got to walk & climb in those heavy safety boots. So, obviously I really DO need that massage!! [UPDATED: it’s called Pelvic Girdle Pain. Do i need to be prepared for giving birth in kneeling/upright position? *whoaaa*!]

[unrelated photo: spot my feet! ;P]

Fellow friends suggested several spas that have therapist specializing in massage during pregnancy (bukan mak bidan yang urut betulkan position baby/uri whatsoever tu ya. Just a relaxing massage to calm the mommy. Mommy feels good, so do will the baby! *wink*). Tried to go to Nona Roguy TTDI on a Sunday but they were closed that time, heard about Urban Retreat in The Curve but that was during the H1N1 superpanic period which i tried to limit myself from going to shopping complexes. And apparently Clearwater Sanctuary not so far from my kampung in Perak offer the same service too! But balik kampung pun setahun sekali (and for 2.5 days only *sigh*), so i don’t think that would be a good idea. (owh, just discoverd Vila Manja too has massage therapy for preggers, niceee! *wink*wink*WINK* to mr.Daddy ;)))) )

Luckily, at the Parenthood Expo last August, i came accross Mother2Baby by Rustic Nirvana. Asked them about prenatal massage service… and guess what, they have that + the massage centre is sooo near to my PIL’s place which is in Jaya One + they had a trial offer for RM28/hour. Read again: Twenty Eight Ringgit ONLY Per Hour! What a deal! Foot massage at Thai Odyssey (not when i’m preg of course) pun cost me errr, about RM55/hour if i’m not mistaken. Or if i would have to bribe mr.Daddy to massage me for an hour, i bet it would cost me at least RM100 *haha*.

So i scheduled the massage session at Mother2Baby spa during the week long raya holiday, that was in my 28th week gestation. The period allowed for the massage is between 20 to 32 weeks of pregnancy. So, the timing was just nice. What can i say, it felt so gooooooood and i like the smell of the massage oil they use in spas….so soothing! I’m so glad i got the chance to pamper myself :), I’m one happy mommy!

[unrelated photo: one of the non-18SX pics from our honeymoon. Bali is synonym to spas don’t u think so? ;)]

—-Self note for massage during pregnancy: Massage at legs except the feet (i guess that’s because there’s a reflexology point that can trigger preterm contraction *o_O*), gentle stroke at lower back, bantai hardcore massage at the shoulder *aaaa…best best…*. oh, and of course, as my obgyn said “as long as the therapist don’t touch the tummy area..!”, hehe, yes of course the therapist didn’t touch my tummy. Let the obgyn handle that if necessary, yah?—-

Have you had a massage during pregnancy? Where did you go?