Wordless Wednesday

God's Miracle : In Its Simple Form

Every single second there are millions of God's miracles happened, without us realizing. We seldomly realized them on normal occassions but will really appreciate them when our situation needs God's miracle the most.

This was what happened to me just now. It might sound simple but yes, it eased the our whole plan for everybody, for the day.

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We had no choice but to have Eirsa's dermatologist appointment at 2.30 today. Appointment was made last week, but the schedule was too packed and we could not wait until the weekend. So 21 September, 2.30pm it was.

This specialist's service required no cash from us, since it was covered under the company's medical insurance, as long as we could produce the Guarantee Letter (GL). The GL could be faxed to you in less than 30 minutes by the insurance company, provided you had filled up the GL request form properly, together with the recommendation letter from panel clinic. It's a normal and easy prosess except that I was on medical leave until yesterday and the recommendation letter was in my office, so I could only request for the GL today.

The plan basically : I had to process the GL application, received and signed the GL this morning, Samurai would pick up the signed GL, fetch Eirsa and Opah and go to the specialist clinic. Not a big deal, we'd been to the clinic many times, Eirsa was home with Opah, Opah could help Eirsa's getting ready on time and Samurai's office is just 10 minutes away from Opah's house.

Except that Samurai had an unexpected, unscheduled, unplanned meeting with his boss and the meeting only ended at 12.50pm. To recap, he had to come to my office for the GL, which is 20 minutes away (one-way), fetch Eirsa in Damansara, travel from Damansara to Subang Jaya and had no choice but to make it before 2.30pm. For those who knew, Klinik Pakar Kulit Ranjit in Subang Jaya is always crowded every single second. You could get stuck there around 1-2 hours, even an appointment. And, it was raining. KL, raining, traffic : they are not good friends. Grrrreat.

And suddenly, God's miracle came to us, in the form of heroic figure of a friend of mine, Mr. H. He needed to go to Damansara during lunch hour and invited us to join him for lunch. If everything was in place, Samurai did not have to drive all the way to my office but rather pick the GL in Damansara. Talking about the save of total of around 45 minutes.

But.

As said, Samurai was having a meeting (that I didn't know till then) and Mr. H needed to make a move at 12.45pm. I tried to reach Samurai's phone until 12.44pm and prayed hard that he could at least pick up the phone so that I could inform him on the new plan. But I didn't want to delay Mr. H's plan either, so I reluctantly asked them to proceed and I could probably still catch up if I could reach my husband in 5 minutes.

6 minutes and 15 missed calls later, Samurai returned my call. Put him on hold, I called Mr. H and he was STILL at the office car park. Praising Allah for his help and mercy, I managed to join Mr. H to Damansara, informed Samurai to meet me somewhere there, save their trip to the clinic by 45 minutes and they managed to reach there at 2.10pm, 20 minutes before the appointment time. They then completed the examination and all before 3.00pm. GOD IS GREAT. GOD IS GREAT. GOD IS GREAT.

If Mr. H did not have to go to Damansara, Samurai did not pick up the phone or return my call on time and I missed Mr. H's 'rombongan' to Damansara, there was high possibility that the appointment needed to be rescheduled or Eirsa would be treated as walk-in patient (if the missed the appointment time) which would only be attended only after 2-3 hours after the registration. It was even relieving since the traffic from Damansara to my office was later found unexpectedly congested, perhaps due to the rain.

So yes. Miracle happens to you everytime. You just need to realize it.

Note : On Eirsa's development, we'll take a photo on the strange things on her skin and inshaAllah will let you know the result a week after the treatment as recommended by Dr Ranjit.

Things I Love About Pregnancy

It has been 16 weeks now, calculated from the first day of my last menses.

I don't really reach 4 months though, it's going to be in 1-2 weeks. Calculating in weeks made me forget how many months had passed by.

Alhamdulillah, getting better gradually I still sometimes find myself struggling with bloated stomach, fatigue (like most of the time after walking or even eating), the appetite is still so-so, and still menumpang at PIL's house. I've been back in the office since after long raya holiday but could make it the most of 3 of 5 working days. But all in all, this is much better than the past 2 months. *sujud*

And yes, second trimester is the most enjoyable time by expecting mothers, provided the morning sickness is gone or at least 50% gone. The stamina is gradually back in action, the belly is just nice to fit in some loose casual outfits and even maternity wear if some wished to, the feet are yet to swell, the weight is still bearable to be dragged to the shopping malls! But I don't know,  this time my shopping enthusiasm seems to 'jatuh longkang' and I had done no shopping for myself for the past 3 months, except for a pair of Raya wedges and a pair of Raya Diva bulky rings. And browsing through the online shopping websites made me tired.

As I had been going out more than the early pregnancy, I've also started to experience the blessings, the joys of being a pregnant lady. Some of them :

1) There's always an empty spot of car park. And most of them is near to the entrance. *grin*
2) Waiting made shorter for us, as out of sudden there's additional counter will be opened to cater for our needs! *grin*
3) Orang belanja makan. Er.. Ikut nasib la. ;)
4) Mengidam, berdoa dan inshaAllah lambat laun akan dapat. What happened was I had been salivating in my mind about mee kari during puasa. May be I had mentioned it to husband once but just kept it quiet after that since it is not easy to find mee kari during the day. Besides, our usual tapau spots were mostly closed and only opened with juadah berbuka which mostly offered nasi berlauk. And during hari raya, it was indeed a sweet coincidence where most of the close relatives' houses that I visited has mee kari as one of their menus! Hambik kau, kembung mee kari.
5) Generous MCs. I know, this should be number 1. *grin wider*

And I'm sure many of you would've experienced a lot of other unexpectedly lucky event and why don't you share with us? :)

For those expecting mothers, I would like to humbly share, anything that you are wishing for being it edible or inedible things, just have those wishes clearly kept in your mind, pray to God, (could may be ask it from your husband once or twice but doesn't really have to be pursued) be patience and redha. Kalau ada rezeki untuk kamu, inshaAllah akan sampai juga kepada kamu.

Note : I plan to read more about jaundice; the cause and the prevention and may be will share with you.

The Long Silence

You are absolutely right. It has been a month and 8 days since my last post. Alhamdulillah, here I am, still breathing.

Severe hyperemesis gravidarum, as diagnosed by the same gynaecologist that I visited when I was carrying Eirsa in my tummy. That was what kept me from blogging, most of the time from the sunshine and from my work. Series of sick leave, twice hospital admission and losing of 4 kg as of date, probably sounds more comprehendable, right? Not to mention daily vomittings without fail, nause, almost no appetite at all, super sensitive towards food odor, extreme tiredness, 24/7 bloated, seldom heartburn and low blood pressure, kept me close to my bed most of the time. Yet, thank Allah for still keeping me alive and making the time flies without me noticing, until when the day came I forgot about our anniversary. Alhamdulillah.

Today marked the 12th week of my pregnancy. Oh yes, I am pregnant! My third pregnancy and inshaAllah our second child.

I detected or more accurately couldn't wait but really had to perform the self-test of pregnancy as early as 26 days after the first day of my last mens. The sign at the test kit was weak but positive (there were some signs that made me think I was pregnant). The result was verified by doctor, I managed to stay in good health until week 6 until the severe hyperemesis gravidarum paid me a visit. This was about the same experience I had during my second pregnancy eventhough I prayed hard that it is going to be better this time. Oh. It is better since the number of vomittings dailiy reduced and I lost only 4kg instead of 5kg previously! Alhamdulillah.. Alhamdulillah..

And Allah is the Greatest. May be it's still too early to conclude but since yesterday I slowly gained my appetite back. Very little improvement but motivating.

(continue typing while lying on my bed)

And this morning, it was a miracle that I didn't really vomit, more of the act to vomit but nothing really came out. And the nausea seems lessen a bit. Thank you, Allah.

And we could never thank my in-laws enough for helping us in taking care of Eirsa, which by the way is now super active, and myself. Could net imagine our hard days without them. Thank you Opah, Atuk and Uncle Pi. And of course my family, friends and colleagues.

And thank YOU for the suppport.

p/s : InshaAllah, will continue when I am in good condition to blog, which I hope soon. (ni pun sudah rasa pening).

You Did It To Yourself

Warning : This is my personal experience that I wanted to share with you. You could be judgmental and I couldn't and won't stop you. Allah is to judge me and He did keep his promise.

I had my assessment for my current career post last month after several months of waiting. I was informed 6 days earlier and it was obvious that I had ample time to prepare myself mentally and physically and to strategize the best route to the assessment center so I could ensure I arrived earlier than appointment time. You know KL, a car could have been parked at the very side of a road because the driver could not avoid but had to pee there and then and the whole route and connected route would congest instantly.

I, being the typical kelam kabut assessee would definitely do my homework, revision and start praying for the best, for everything to go smooth easy peasy. I meant not too easy lah but well enough that I could not do anything wrong or stupid. But I kept on delaying the preparation process and even worse, delaying in performing my solat hajat (which by the way I would always make sure I did at least once before any big thing). The first 3 days prior to the assessment, I barely done any preparation, including the solat hajat. And it so happened that I had my menstrual right on the 4th day which clearly meant it was impossible for me to perform the solat hajat prior to the assessment. That when I started to worry about the assessment, my lack of preparation and my lack of confidence.

I however managed to get some tips and helpful information from some friends who had undergone the same assessment quite recently. I felt more confident but my instinct was still not settled down. When people told that I'm going to be OK, they had faith me, they knew I could do it, I didn't deny the motivation but I still had the feeling that something bad would happen. I told them that it was not the content of the assessment but more to the outside factors for example I might get brain freeze or it could be my health or my car buat hal (as I discovered all four tyres looked a bit penyek) or even worse, something might have happened during on the road. Na'uzubillahiminzalik. I continued praying that the assessment would go well.

But indeed, it happened, it was the last one, the journey.

That night, Husband commanded everyone to sleep early. The lights were off as early as 9.45pm and I slept earlier than Eirsa did. The night was fine, I had a good night sleep, just a small tolerable interruption when Eirsa woke up for her regular night milk feed. The alarm was functioning, I woke up as early as 6.04 a.m. But.

Never had I done this before, I chose to just lay on the bed for some more minutes, checked my iPhone, accessed my Twitter account and even managed to reply to an interesting The Pink Stiletto's tweet. I even read the whole timeline and didn't notice how minutes that I have wasted until it was already 6.25am and I rushed to get ready for the day. Weirdly, I didn't get panic attacked. Even though I knew the SMART tunnel was closed due to maintenance, I still intelligently came to an assumption that they would open the tunnel back for public access due to overwhelming complaints received due to the closure that started the day before. I was completely wrong.

I reached the KL-Seremban highway as late as 7.25am and gosh, the traffic was almost not moving. The SMART tunnel management was so serious about the maintenance and continued closing the tunnel for another day. And. I. Was. Dead. The registration was at 8.30am and it is impossible for me to reach Jalan Semarak in on hour, when the car was only crawling at 10km/h. Weirdly, I still didn't get panic attacked, as if I knew this was going to happen. As if I knew this was THE punishment.

So, I asked a friend to guide me to another route, via Besraya. The day before, the route was better than KL-Seremban Highway, to reach Loke Yew and I could at probably reached Jalan Semarak around 8.30am. I took a turn and guided by her on the phone and alhamdulillah reached Besraya easily. But, but, but. Besraya traffic was moving at 30km/h an it was already 7.50am. D.A.M.N. That when I started to panic.

At a point on Besraya, I could actually choose to each Jalan Semarak via Jalan Istana & Mahameru or I could choose to proceed straight to join Loke Yew. Again, I assumed that Loke Yew would not be as congested since most of the drivers got stuck at KL- Seremban highway. Definitely a wrong assumption. My car was technically stop at a point for around 10 mins and move another 50 meters and halt again and this happened almost all the way on Loke Yew until I reached Jalan Tun Razak. At this point I had switched off my radio, higher up the blower, lower down the temperature and pray pray pray (and almost cried). I called my mom for her prayers and text my husband and friend on the latest news. That was the time when I realized why were all these happening.

I always procrastinate in performing my solat. It is quite a routine to wait for at the very end of solat period to perform it and wait for 10 minutes to continue performing the next prayer. For example at office. My Zuhur is usually 15 minutes before Asar so I would only have to have wudu' once. And embarrassingly, sometimes I only managed to perform Zuhur during the borderline of Zuhur and Asar. Why am I doing this to the very important thing in my life; serving Allah. And solat only require 5 x 5 times a day and I still want to find was to delay. And that was what Allah showed me the importance of preserving my discipline (means performing solat); through this incident.

But, the next part could not emphasize more that Allah is indeed Ar-Rauf, The Pitying.

I reached the registration desk 2 minutes before they started, with empty stomach. But I still managed to grab a box of 100ml soy bean and finished the whole lot 30 seconds before the assessment started. A couple of deep breaths later, the assessment started. And Allah is Al-'Afuw (The Pardoner) the whole session was easy, the assessor was being firm and fair and I had ample time later to prepare for the second session. I even believe that all the easiness granted was not because of me or my prayers, but for others that prayed and would rely on me to pass this assessment.

Thank you Allah, thank you Allah, thank you Allah.

Thank you to Mak, Husband, Eirsa, my angels and angelos in office, my angels in my heart, mothers and all of you that have prayed for me. May Allah love you more.

Note : Alhamdulillah, result received today and I passed the assessment, means some monthly extra rezeki for me. True enough. Allah itu tidak zalim, tetapi kamu yang menzalimi diri kamu sendiri.

Once Upon A Time

Yet another pictorial post, to indicate that this blog and I are still alive.

These were taken 3-5 years back (semua gambar adalah mengikut turutan peristiwa).

Young (still are), healthy (alhamdulillah, still are) and crazily in love (and alhamdulillah, still are).

Wordless Wednesday