Here's one I made earlier

I've been thinking about how to remember Adi's birth, especially to capture the things that she has when she's small. I meant like foot or hand print that we could look at years later and say that how small you were when you were born but it will only be a print. So in looking high & low, I've came across an imprinting & casting for the lil one hand and feet.

The box - available from Mothercare

The box and the salesperson said that this is an easy to do, safe for the baby and 100% foolproof. Imagine how I felt when I botched up the first attempt (not feeling so clever then). The thing that pisses me off is that I followed all the instructions to the t, plus including my own set of failsafe methods only to botch it up. Grrr....

Luckily, the supplied kit has more than enough material to cover for the failed first attempt. After becoming wiser, I have in fact manages to get 3 castings out of the remaining material with the luxury to choose from in case I screw up again.

The whole process is quite lengthy as the time needed for preparation and letting the plaster set. From experience, I knew that this is one process that cannot be rushed in order to achieve the highest possible quality my skills (and luck) would allow me.

Pointers to those who would like to try this, ensure that the container for the mold would fit the subject nicely, too big then it would be a waste of material and too small you wouldn't get all the details. Also, the imprinting material sets quickly, so better for you to mix a small batch and cast the mold rather than mixing it all in one go.

The mixing of the porcelain plaster is also quite tedious for you to ensure a good result, no air pockets and a smooth finish. Please observe the instruction in doing layers on casting, rather than pouring it all in one go. Point to not is to use a flexible container for the mold as it would facilitate the removal of the mold and ensuring that you did not break any digits off the cast.

The results?




I think I did OK. Well not in the league of professional/amateur artist but I should be able to preserve Adi lil hand & feet in 3D for our memories.

Changes..

Changes are an inevitable part of life. We see changes everyday and adapt to it. But for a certain few things, we would like to see no changes at all. As a creature of habit, we like to create a comfort zone around us and would like to control this comfort zone so that minimal changes affect it. But sometimes, we have to accept the fact that changes have to happen and whether we like it or not, adaption has to made to it.

These adaptation and ways to cope with the changes would be different to everyone. How do you react to changes that affect you directly or indirectly? There's no rules or logic condition to be applied as each changes are unique. A change too fast too soon might have a detrimental effect to a person likewise too slow too long. Anyway, how we react to the changes would affect our lives as well.

Even if we are mentally prepared for the change, but when the time comes, it still going to hit you like more than you were prepared for. So whether we like it or not, there's always a time for a change.

Loteri Halal

We decided to take another stab at the loteri halal again. Hopefully this time brings a better luck to us. Maybe the god of fortune is in a good mood during these festivities to bless on us or maybe he's to busy entertaining other more affluent offerings from those who would want to be in power when Malaysia Decides on Mrach 8. All in all I hope it would work out well.

With the water mains pipe issues and dipping into the lottery pool activity, money has been flowing out like water from my bank account into someone else's, sengkek oi bulan ni....

Feels like listening to this ...

Time to cast your votes

It's official. The election day has been set on the 8th of March 2008. Now we could see those who's contesting promising the moon and the stars, whilst most still fail to keep promises prior to being elected during the last election.

Now we will see the scare tactics, discrediting of nominees and personal attack on the candidates. For me, the whole thing is like a big circus. The build up to it was dramatic, then they will fall flat during the delivery.

Most countries have change government a few times but that is a rarity in this region. Maybe a wind of change is coming. Vote wisely.

Misery Loves Company

I returned home today to a big surprised. My water bill comes to almost RM400. Was thinking, wow, we sure used a lot of water this month since the birth of the girl. But almost RM400?. On the bill was a handwritten note with a phone number by the meter reader. A call to him reveals a method to detect leakage and when done, sure enough the meter was ticking even though no one is using water in the house.

A check with my brother who had similar case before said that he spent close to RM1K to get his pipes repaired. So judging by that I should set aside a similar amount of money to get it repaired. Oh boy, misery sure loves company.

A well deserved break

or so I thought...

During the Chinese new year break I have managed to :

1. Got my hands on the original Transformers More Season 1 DVD, hence giving the boy a chance in understanding the Transformers Series in depth, short of buying the guidebook, as to what it is about rather than the 'movie' which kinda lost me

2. Catch up on a few movies which I had, which turns out to be a blood-bath-fest. Never in my life I feel that the movie industry has really pushed the envelope on 'realistic' blood spatter, where decapitation is the highlight of the movies... urgghh... puts me off blood for a while

3. Made plans to have a mini reunion for the east coast members of my school (there's only 4 of us there) but had to be canceled due to unforeseen circumstances

4. The sleeping pattern of the newborn is still not fully established, which have left me red-eyed and tired during the day. Wonder how I'm gonna cope next week when work is going to be full force.

5. Loads of old wives tip (petua) on the newborn. Some rather dubious, some rather obvious. The thing is that there are so many medically trained elders that you were left wondering what good a MD that your doc has. Also a lot of stuff were sourced for the newborn with money and time spent on it, but when it come to applying it, it was like, "cuba sikit je dulu, kalau tak mujarab cuba benda lain plak". I was like WTF??? Wanna try or not? If don't want to try then why ask to seek in the first place? Should I play Doc and try everything even though it would upset the elders?

6. The work than I brought back hasn't been touched. Sigh... need to do overtime to meet the dateline....

7. On the up note, my time of changing the baby has improved. Now need to challenge the best of the best pit crew. Anyone seen my stopwatch?

Rant over. Catching up some zzzz....

Now Listening ...

Hujan - Pagi yang gelap

Spectacular Family

It means that 3/4 in the family member are wearing vision correction device a.k.a spectacles. Why 3/4? Let's count :

1. Me
2. The mrs
3. The boy?

The boy had been complaining lately that he couldn't see what the teacher wrote and the blackboard and as a results some of his homework is not copied. Which prompted us to go to an ophthalmologist to have his eyesight checked. The results? This is one of the results where a higher number is not preferable, and his is higher than mine!!!! And he's only six going on seven.

Anak Bapak - with his chosen glasses

Home photo therapy & Airlock Issues

Baby Adi (that the correct spelling deemed by the boy) did another blood test for her bilirubin count today. Initially when we check out from the hospital, it was 175 umol/l, when she was admitted it was 225, when she was discharged it was 209 but today it was 275, on the rise again after 2 days. Seeing this, the peadi wants her to be put in the hospital again for photo-therapy.

I suggested to him that we gonna do our own at home photo-therapy as we had friends who did that with comparable results with what the hospital could achieve but with another big advantage, the baby stays at home. He was reluctant at first saying that for one, to his knowledge no one does the renting out of the equipment, certainly not his clinic and two, it might not be as affective as doing it in the hospital due to the fact that as parents we actually care for the child, if he/she as much as twitches let alone cries we gonna take her away from the light. In the end he agreed subjected to a daily blood test. Fine, at least there was a compromise.

I've seen the way they did it in the hospital, where the babies are just 'patients' to them and if they doesn't conform to the hospital regulation of feeding time, sleeping pattern then it too bad for the baby. Also they have this tendency that even if you brought your own EBM, the wold rather go for the baby formula because it is easier and convenient for them. No way I'm gonna let them have another go at Adi again plus it would be hard for me to travel every now and then to the hospital to check and relay updates back to base.

So with the info given by a friend, I called up the clinic which contacted the mobile photo therapy company. Within minutes, they return my call and says that their rep would come to the house in 2 hours to set up the equipment and the necessary instructions. At the appointed time, the rep was in the area with me fetching him from our designated rendevous and show the way. The equipment was actually house in a large hard shell suitcase, akin to the one you would take for a holiday. Setting up was quick and he showed me, with the help of a doll, on how to do it. Confident that I could do a much better job than those 'trained' nurses in caring for my child, and it seems easy enough.

After feeding her, we prepped her up and put her in the equipment. At first Baby Adi was crying, but as we comforted her, she slept through her first 3 hours under the lights without much issue. Then it was time for feeding and cleaning but this time it was harder as she was awake, probably due to the adequate rest of the prior session. I then put her to prone position, much to the chagrin of the other half and orang2 tua, but if that makes me a bad guy, so be it as I wants my baby to show some improvement for the test tomorrow. Then she relaxed with adequate time for me to catch some shuteye. Then I woke her up again for some feeding and cleaning and she was comfortable for the 3rd session. The rep says that normally they would recommend stopping the treatment at midnight so that the minder could get some sleep for tomorrow, but I think I'm gonna go the whole yard for the first day to maximize on getting a noticeable reduction if not arresting the rise of the serum bilirubin for tomorrow's blood test. Its 1:25 am and I wonder whether I should continue the treatment or call it of for the day.

Baby Adi under the limelight, eh bluelight

On another note, they say problems always come in pairs. When the mrs. found out that there was no water in the master bedroom toilet, my thoughts were like, great, another unscheduled water cuts. We had this problem a few times for the last few months so maybe its time to write in to SYABAS and make an official complain. But then there was water in the kitchen and the rest of the bathrooms, so I was stumped. Suddenly I recall this situation when I was small, and my dad used to relieve some trapped air in the pipes and this could block the water flow, so I gave him a call for some guidance before setting off to work. It showed some promised but then the water flow stopped completely. I decided to check out the tank above the ceiling and to my surprise the tank is almost empty, making my problem bigger than it was. It showed that I have a trapped air bubble in the main feed to the tank and this warrants help from "its gonna cost you RMXXX brigade".

I was adamant not to call them yet and I think this problem could be fixed. Since the storage tank was quite empty, it made the job easier. I tried to bleed the main feed to the storage tank, but that proves easier thought of than done. Then I decided to let all the pipes in the house to be empty of water and would rush water in from the main pipe in. It worked when I started to hear gurgle of air through the main feed to the storage tank and water actually starts to flow in, albeit in the complimentary 'rust' tint from SYABAS. Wonder whether they are in cohorts with these water filter guys.

So far, the water supply was all good and dandy, I managed to save probably 2 x RMXXX, got the bluelight up and running and Baby Adi going through her course of treatment. Not bad for a days job, maybe not to Superman's standard, but hey, at least I don't have a weakness to bluelight. Maybe to green cryptonite I suppose ;-)

Ady's back

Got the call today from the clinic, apparently Ady could go back today due to improving condition and lower bilirubin count. Everyone was excited especially the boy. And when she got home today, she spent most of her time sleeping. She must have been feeling better I suppose. Alhamdulillah.

Of highs and lows

Baby Ady's bilirubin counts were getting higher today, hence the doctor ordered her to stay in and undergo photo treatment. Pity her, her brother and especially the mrs. Leaving your 3 day old daughter to the hands of the nurses would be daunting . Even the boy was crying before he went to sleep, pining for his sister.

Hopefully she can recover and be with us again soon.

On another note, I have registered her birth with the JPN, hence she is officially and legally known as Adriana Hani Sharizal.

Welcome Adriana Hani

Ok, sorry about the 'live' update part, was caught up with the moment and decided that attending to the mrs and the girl was way more satisfying than trying to update this.

The delivery was scheduled at 1:30 pm, but with all the necessary pre-op precodeure, the mrs was only wheeled in at 1:50 pm. As she was wheeld into the OT, the spouse has to wait outside. SJMC has a strict no spouse allowed in OT, due to histories that husbands have fainted during the procedure and need more attention than the mother and baby themselves.

At 2:45 pm, 28January 2008 Adriana Hani was born. I was introduced to her about 15 minutes later. Quick check reveals that she has all 10 toes and fingers, quite a good size at 3.32 kg, 40.6 cm with an AGPAR score of 10, has a great pair of lungs as most importantly is a GIRL! After a more thorough check, I was able to 'iqamat' in her ears before handing her over to the nursery staff for cleaning and warming up. Her features was more on the mrs side of the family, with me wandering whether they got the right baby or not as her eyes were just slits. Even the nursery staff has to double check with the OT staff that they haven't mixed up the baby.

Baru lahir dah pandai posing

Macam anak patung Jepun

Yang ni macam Shin-Chan plak

At about 4:30 pm. I went back home to do the 'cleansing' of the placenta, along with picking up the boy from school so that he would be able to go to the hospital. I think among all of us, the boy was the one who's really looking forward for the arrival of his sister. He was really excited and was talking about things that they would do together, oblivious to the fact that his sister would need about 4-5 months before she can play along with him.

Welcome to the world Adriana Hani Sharizal.

Ok peeps, we have a live feed

Checked in at a temporary room in the hospital, waiting for the preparation. BTW, this is the free wifi courtesy of SJMC. What we could do now is wait and hope everything would be ok.

Wouldn't know if I could do a hourly updates, maybe I'll just update the important timelines. The rest macam malas nak report. Soon-would-be mom anxious, me just taking it as it comes, waiting in anticipation for my bundle of joy in pink.

Till further updates

It's here today ....

1 more day ...........

1 more day 2 go

image from

2 days 2 go

more days 2 go ........

image from

6 days and counting

6 days of waiting in anticipation, lots of things to think about, lots of things to do, self preparation to make, physically & mentally .

So right now, I'm gonna take things easy and pace myself till the day comes.

Issue with a pussy

I've got some issue with a pussy at the moment, before anyone of you get any ideas, it's the real pussy with four legs. Lately a white stray cat has been encroaching our kitchen through the window trying to find scraps of food, up to the extend of uprooting the garbage. Tired with the antics, I've decided to put up some netting on the grill to prevent it form getting in.

So off I went to the hardware and after getting the required materials, begin to work on it. Up the netting went, covering 2/3 of the window. Once the work was done, I got the thumbs up for the effort. So the proof of the pudding is in the eating right? What better to test the newly put up barrier that enticing the cat in. I was expecting that she wouldn't figure out the way in but I was dead wrong, In minutes, she managed to enter the kitchen through the windows. Twice. Grrrr... No wonder the coin the term cat burglat

Been outwitted by a four legged creature, what's next?

First Day of School

First day of school! I meant the real school not like kindies and the ones that are excited more are the parents from what I observed. Parents are the ones who would queue with their child and eagerly awaits the nest instruction from teachers, whereas the child would be absorbed in his/her own world, anxious to survive the day rather than savour the experience of being in a new place and meeting new friends.

Also I found that some parents are a bit insensitive in the sense that they were hogging the tables at the canteen during the first year recess. Granted that you would want to save a seat for your child, but if theres five of you in the family at least get up and clear the table. Also wouldn't it be better to let them find their own way around the canteen with newly made friends. The least you could do it get up and clear the space for them to sit. Instead some of them have to sit on the floor or anywhere available to have their break.

It also brought back memories of my first day in school. Blackboards, chalks, long yellow ruler and feather dusters for dishing out punishments. Wonder what the boy will remember about his first day.

Toys for Boys

I got the boy a miniature RC Helicopter for Christmas as I thought it was a cool toy (definition of cool toy : the ones that dad can play too). I was drawn to it rather than the bigger ones as it can be played indoors and the parts are mostly unbreakable, hence even when it crashes at the hand of inexperienced pilot, the craft would come out unscathed. The heli even came with its own rechargeable battery to keep the weight down and to ensure that with even a small dimension it can still fly around. Wonders of technology eh?

It took some time to master the art of flying it, as long as it stays airborne the two of us are contented. Brings back the memories of Airwolf.