Allah Save Our Little Baby

Wednesday, 30 June 2010

Today is my wife's 24th weeks 4 days and 13th day on “bed rest” in the maternity ward in the RBWH. We are both really happy that, by Allah’s will, baby still decides to stay in the womb until now because that is the best place where our baby should be. Every single day is very crucial for baby’s development. All we can do is just pray for the safety of both mummy and baby and hope they will just breeze through the days and nights without any complication. Hopefully Allah will keep baby in the womb for as long as possible and make everything go as we hope it would be, which is for my wife to safely deliver a cute and healthy in September, Insya Allah

My wife and baby are both strong fighters. Alhamdulillah, they manage to defy all the odds that are stacked against them until now. We thank Allah for giving my wife and baby the strength to continue on with this pregnancy. Hearing baby's loud, healthy and strong heartbeats gives my wife the purpose to be strong and made us continuing to hope and pray that she will get through this. The doctors and midwifes are really nice and supportive here, giving endless advice and guiding my wife through this hard time.

It is important that my wife is resting well and avoid being stress through out this "best rest" period. We are doing different sort of activities to keep her buzy like watching DVDs/Foxtail channels, solving game puzzles and crosswords, playing upwords board games and creating baby's little scrap book.

Ya Allah, please save our baby and let us have a cute, healthy baby in our arms in September !!

Amin Amin Ya Rabbal Alamin!!

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Monday, 28 June 2010

RBWH is known to be one of the best, if not the best hospital in the obs/gynae area in Australia. According to the RBWH foundation (see poster above): "85% of babies born preterm at RBWH now survives". Alhamdulillah, it is really “a blessing in disguise” that we are at the right place, when this incident occured. We hope our baby is in that 85% category, InsyaAllah.

Today, my wife and I went for a tour at the Special Neonatal Care Unit. This is the unit where pre-term babies are given special care and treatment until they reach full term. The baby doctor brought us around to see how premature infants are being attended. The idea was so that we know what to expect if our baby is born pre-term. We are really impressed and are amazed with the facilities that they have. It gave us the sudden realization of hope to see some more than 50 small cute babies are being given intensive treatment in the unit, some are in the incubators and some in the open cots, all healthy and well. They are really cute!

Steroid & Clexane Injection

Sunday, 27 June 2010

Alhamdulillah, today, my wife has reached her 24th weeks of gestation.

Yesterday, my wife was given a steroid injection and another shot given about 24 hrs later, today. This steroid injection is a proven medical approach since the 1980s, to help develop baby’s lungs so that the baby will be able to breathe and live independently after birth, if born pre-term. This injection is only given to pregnant women who are expected to give birth at pre-term, but is only given between 24th and 32nd week gestation.

From this week on, she had to take two blood tests per week to check the level of inflammatory markers. Because, apparently sometimes signs of infections usually shows up in the blood first before they would manifest in the physical form via the body blood pressure and temperature.

Another treatment she is taking is Clexane injection, once daily, to help prevent blood clot, especially during this period of “bed rest”. Clexane is a well known blood thinner which help blood circulation for mummy as well as for baby. This will also help baby to get the required oxygen level he/she needs.

Hoping For a Miracle

Friday, 25th June 2010

I write on my wife's behalf due to her current medical situation and limited access to internet.

My wife is presently an inpatient under the care of the obstetric team under the maternity ward at the Royal Brisbane Woman Hospital (RBWH) in Brisbane, Australia. She was admitted on the Friday, 18th June 2010 at around 1.30am (Brunei time 11.30pm) that is after when, out of the blue, her water leaked.

When i heard about the news, I was really devastated, i couldn't sleep the whole night. On that same day, i was determined that i must be onboard the next flight to Brisbane and luckily there were few empty seats available and i did get onboard that very next flight!! It was the scariest 6 hours flight in my whole life - i didn't know what to expect. Upon arrival in Brisbane, i went straight to the hospital. My wife was not in labour but the doctor didn't give her much hope either. I was worried. It was mixture of feelings. I was happy at the same time, wife and baby were both healthy. One thing for certain is that she had to be on "bed rest" at the hospital for as long as she can, until labour. I had to be close to her at all times, giving all the support i could give!! The good thing is that the water seems to be slowly healing itself over time.

The midwives are continuously monitoring my wife to make sure there is no infection through blood samples, blood pressure and temperature. It is an important part the prenatal care for the midwives to continuously listen to baby’s heartbeat using the fetal doppler every 3 - 4 hrs for any possible pregnancy complications. Alhamdulillah, there is no sign of infection and the baby is healthy in the womb.

Today, she is 23 weeks 5 days in her pregnancy. Each day brings another level of hope. It is a true blessing from Allah for keeping my wife and baby safe until now. Hopefully Allah will prolong her pregnancy as closest to 40 weeks gestation as possible. Amin! Everyday i pray to Allah, the Almighty to give my wife and baby the strength to get through this... safely & in good health. Because I love my wife and baby!! And also because my wife and I want so badly and love to have a family!!

Thanks to all family and friends for the continuous support and praying for the safety of my wife and baby. We are trying to be positive and hopefully everything will turn out to be fine. Amin Ya Rabbal Alamin!!!

Card for Hubby

Wednesday, 16 of June 2010

Secretly, I also sent an of anniversary card for hubby, which he had received today. Yippie! Hubby seemed to be very happy after receiving them. I bought this card from Australia Post Office Shop last week. Cute isn't. Hehe. I'm very glad that he liked the card very much :). I actually bought an anniversary gift for him last week as well, which hubby will receive when he comes here in 16 days time!!! Oh yeah, brown bear refers to hubby and pink refers to me hehe..

Love is passion..

Tuesday, 15 June 2010

Love is passion!!

Today, exactly three years ago is our biggest day in our lives, the day of our union, our wedding day! Love is what made us decide to share every joys and my sorrows together! Together, we believe we can accomplish the life we both dream of living. I have made a compilation, tribute to our marriage, photos of the main events of our wedding.

I have also made a special poem for my lovely Hubby!

My Dear,
I have never felt this happiness before
I thanked God (Allah) for giving me a very special Gift
Of which diamonds and rings will never replace...
That is you..

My Love,
I am loving you more
Each day that has passed..
Even more than you could ever imagine..

My Heart,
I promise you will all my heart..
My feelings to you will never change
I feel grateful that I have you by my side
To share, care and cherish..

Finally...

My Dear Husband,
Married to you...
Is the best thing that had ever happened to me
And I would like to wish you..
Happy 3rd Year Anniversary..
I Love You Sooo Much!

Anniversary Gifts

Tuesday, 15 June 2010

This year, for our third year anniversary, i have received two anniversary cute cards that Hubby sent over by post from Brunei. What is really amazing is that I received it exactly today, which is our anniversary day!! According to Hubby, he sent it about 2 weeks ago, is that coincidence?! I almost cried reading them actually. Thanks hubby.. Please wait for my card too, I hope it will arrive today as well :) The special gift that he has been keeping secret from me was a free one night stay at the Empire Hotel including breakfast and lunch, yippie! I'm really looking forward for that.

Hubby also bought me a touch mobile phone that can do Recitation of Complete Holy Quran in the voices of world top 7 recitors. The beauty of it is that it can show a malay translation while recitation audio is playing. It also comes with prayer times and Qiblah direction. This is a very useful gift especially when baby is around. Thanks hunny, I really appreciate all the surprises! I wish you are here with me, right now...

Chicken Supply

Monday. 14 June 2010

We were running out on our chicken supply. We decided to go to Palmadale Halal Meat shop to get some. I bought about 10 kilos of chicken for 1 month supply. Should be just enough before we go back to Brunei. Apart from that, we also bought some beef and a pack of chicken nudget. Take a look at our freezer compartment, very full indeed!

More Shopping

Monday, 14 June 2010

Today is a public holidays in Brisbane in commomeration of the Queens Birthday. The good thing is, most shops are open today, unlike Good Fridays and some other holidays. We went out at about 10 am to Westfield Garden City. My mission was to get more baby items to bring back to Brunei. Managed to get a couple of items such as Advent baby bottles, more cute clothings, reusable plastic diapers and baby towels. I still have a lot more to buy actualy. Overall, it was a productive shopping day for me. I also stop by to look at the winter latest look. Check out a photo of me trying out a winter vest, I really like it, bought it for myself in the end :)

Hubby on Weekend Borneo Bulletin

Monday, 14 June 2010

Hubby was on the Borneo Bulletin on the Saturday weekend newspaper. Have a close look at the article snapshot above!! In the second photo, he is standing in the back row, 2nd from the left. He is involved in some interesting project - delivering fish hook shaped well. It is abit small to be able to read the details. Check out the link below for more details.

http://www.borneobulletin.com.bn/weekend/news/jun12h24.htm

Similar news was published in the Brunei Times, check it out:

http://www.bt.com.bn/business-national/2010/06/12/doubling-seria-oilfield-production

Baby Shopping

Saturday, 12 June 2010

Weather is quite cold today! 15 deg C during day time! When I woke up this morning, I completely wrapped myself up in my blanket. I had to wear least 2 layers of pyjamas for sleepwear and sweaters even in side the house. I made use of the sweaters that Hubby sent earlier. Great timing indeed!!

Today, my parents and I went out to DFO retail outlet shop (near Brisbane airport). Every shop in Brisbane is currently having a big sale. Some of the shops here have really nice nursery set collections to suit what ever theme you'd like.

My main target today was to buy some stuffs for our precious baby. Managed to get a couple of beanie, socks and hand mitts from the Pumpkin Patch. Mum, when we got home said we would need more socks as 3 pair is not enough. I was tempted to buy all the cute clothes in the shop. But we already bought a lot of baby's clothes from the UK last year. What we need more now is the big big stuffs such as baby cots (1 for parents house, 1 for our house), sheets and blankets, bath tub, push or bouncy chair, water proof mats, big towels, strollers, car seats, bottle warmers, bottle sterilisers, the list goes on and on, i don't think i'd be able to list out all of them. We'd probably buy some of these items here but definitely mostly would be from Brunei. Anyway, can't wait for hubby to get here and get busy shopping for more baby stuffs!!

Take a look at the photo from our shopping today! I deliberately converted the coloured photo into black and white to hide the gender identity of the baby for the time being. That wouldn't stop any of you to make a guess.. what are your guesses?? I'd be interested to know what you guys think.. leave your say in the chatter box.. If you were clever, you would make use of the cartoon and the type of design in the stuffs.. hehe

World Cup 2010

Friday, 11 June 2010

Big thumbs up to South Africa with FIFA World Cup 2010 Opening Ceremony - South Africa have done a fantastic job. Really amazing opening!! Mixed emotions, excitement and thrilled!! I'm not really a soccer fan, but being one of the millions of soccer fans and viewers wtinessing the said biggest world event of the month is a previledge. I enjoyed watching many different colourful spectators and performers. Great performances by the South African nations. Well done!! Now, i'm looking forward to watch the matches especially South Korea's. I don't think they are going to win the cup, i just enjoyed watching them playing - they are agile and full of colours in terms of skills. I think this year's winner will be either Argentina or Brazil. That is just my opinion. Enjoy the full LIVE coverage of World Cup matches!!

Lunch with Brunei Medic Grads

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

Jeh Wen and Ben were graduates from the PAPRSB (Pengiran Anak Puteri Rahidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah) Institute of Health Science, UBD. They used to be my students during my time as a lecturer in the UBD. There are now medical students at the University of Queensland. Today, they were having their rotation at the Royal Brisbane Hospital (RBH). We had lunch together at the RBH food court. I seldom see them so we actually had to plan this meal in advance. We had seafood sandwiches at the Subway restaurant. We all ordered the same type of sandwhich. Yummy!! The meal comes with two colourful cookies each meal. I really love the cookies!! It really reminds of me of Millies Cookies that hubby and I used to love in the UK :) Anyway, it was fun catching up with them. We updated each other on what we've been doing in Brisbane. They seemed to be enjoying themselves here. Fun hanging out with them. Hope to see them again in the future!! :)

Butter Milk Chicken

Tuesday, 8 June 2010

Mum and dad went to the Asian Spice Mart Shop, while I was busy working in the lab. Before I went to work, I printed out recipe for Butter Milk Chicken from a website, given by our lovely neighbour, Reny (Thanks Reny!). My dad went through the recipe and bought the items needed such as curry leaves, evaporated milk and some chillies from the shop. Mum made the buttermilk chicken for dinner. I was very excited actually that i had to leave work early to have an early dinner.

In the end, mum did an excellent job with it. It was yummy! Quite close to the one that I had in one of the restaurants in Brunei. Thanks Mum, love you so much! In Brunei, normally, if I had a craving for it, Hubby and I will go to the Mall Gadong Food Court and order it from Excellent Taste. A bit pricy, but they make the best butter chicken. Check out this website for the recipe, http://f00d-for-thought.blogspot.com/2006/05/buttermilk-chicken-tph-style.html.

Miniature of My Office (QIMR)

Friday, 4 June 2010

While waiting for my appointment for my baby scan, I went for a walk around the Royal Brisbane Hospital area. I didn't realise that there were plenty of places for me to go about in the area. There was food court, pharmacies, souvenirs shops and post office too. There was this particular area that caught my interest, i saw this aerial view of miniatures of buildings around the hospital area. My office (QIMR) was also a part of it. I took that opportunity to take a photo of it, take a look below, my building where I work everyday, for the next 3 or 4 years  is the tall, yellow one.

QIMR is this yellow tall building in the middle.

Taken from a different angle. QIMR, the most left building.

Baby Scan

Friday, 4 June 2010

I had an anomaly scan today at the Royal Brisbane Woman Hospital, which is just a few minutes walk from my office. Anomaly scan is basically a scan that will help check the baby's development. It was a very thorough check of all the baby organs. Let's just say i'm happy with the outcome. The sonographer, a nice lady, said, our baby is growing very well. The baby was very active during the scan, it was difficult her to capture this particular angle to find out whether the baby is a prince or a princess. But after a long search, she got the angle that she wanted. It was a wonderful experience for me to see the baby moving not only in 2D but also in 3D!!

Daily multivitamins and good diet must have paid off. I'm not going to tell whether it is blue or pink? Let it be a surprise for the time being :). As for now, only hubby and  i know the gender. Since this is going to be our first baby, it doesn't really matter whether it is a boy or a girl really.

At the end of the appointment the sonographer gave me 4 big photos of the scans. I choose the best one to upload here. Enjoy! Just for the fun of it, can you guess what our baby is doing??

The 3D ultrasound photo of our baby suckling thumb!!

Surprise Anniversary Gift

Thursday, 3 June 2010

Our third year wedding anniversary is in less than 2 weeks time from now. Unfortunately i wouldn't be able to celebrate it with Hubby on that very day. We would have to delay the celebration until he comes here. Our long distant relationship wouldn't stop us from making each other happy. He said he had a surprise gift for me and will tell me near to our anniversary day. Yeay!!! I love surprises!!! I'm really curious but no matter how hard i insisted him to tell me, he wouldn't give in. He gave me a clue though, which is "time will itself reveal the surprise" Huh??!!! I have no idea, guess i will just have to wait... hehe...

Fire Drill

Wednesday, 2 June 2010

Today we had a planned fire drill at my office. It happened around mid-day, which was surprisingly during lunch time! They had to do it during lunch time?!! I guess, the message that they want to put across is that accident can happen anytime of the day. Everybody had to leave the building through the fire staircase. It was fascinating to see some people were wearing fireman helmet, which later i found was fire wardens. Some even had to carry along their lunch packs with them and had lunch at the assembly point. It was a successful drill. I took some photos too, hehe, enjoy them!

Chicken Sate for Dinner

Tuesday, 1 June 2010

Yesterday, we went to the Garden City to buy some halal chicken from Palmadale Halal Meat Shop. Unfortunately, they were running out of chicken stock. Mum and dad had to drive there today while i was working at school. Mum bought some boneless chicken from the shop.

Tonight, she got a secret plan, which she said would involve boneless chicken  for dinner. She refused to tell me what it was she was going to cook. I was curious and insisted i helped her prepare for it, in doing so, i realised that i might just know what she was going to cook. Because i love making the same dish as well. My guess was right, she was making some fried chicken sate and its sauce!! I made my first fried chicken sate when I was in the UK. Hubby loved it, at that time we were just friends. Mum's recipe was a SUCCESS! Yummy!