Home, away from home.

Here's to more blogposts in 2017!

I realised I haven't really posted any pictures around our not-so-new home. So here's one.

Hehehe.

We were doing a bit of cleaning around the house before my family arrived, and this was taken just after Adam vacuumed the rug. I thought it's pretty cute seeing his palm prints on there, probably because he couldn't resist having a little 'sketch' on it, haha.

Serious photo now.

Our humble simple no-nonsense living room! 

Having moved from a tiny 1-bed flat with very limited living space to a 2-bed flat with maaaassive living room (and bedroom too!), it was initially really tempting to fill in the space with more stuff to make it more homey. Maybe a couple of pictures here and there, and a small vase with plastic (or fresh) flowers? But we persevered. 

Well more like I persevered, because Adam really couldn't be bothered. 

I wanted the space to look a bit more homey and personal, but at the same time I don't want clutters. I never really appreciate flowers and small trinkets anyway, although I do adore them when I see them at others' places. So what we had back then is all that we have now. In fact if you look at the picture, we hardly ever buy things!

1. TV - free.  It's from Adam's previous apartment in Belfast. (I don't know how he managed to get away inheriting the TV and not paying for it.)

2. TV stand - free. The previous tenant at our previous flat in Leicester left it for us. (I asked if they had anything to sell us before they moved out, and they gave it for free!)

3. Leather couch - free. My neighbour at Grasmere St where I used to live with my housemates left it outside their house with a sign saying "Help Yourself". And of course I couldn't help myself. It's friggin' free!

4. Purple couch cover - (sorta) free. It's actually a duvet cover from Adam's years in Belfast. I haaaate leather couch (freezing bums!) which is a bit ironic because I insisted to have this one, but at the same time couldn't justify spending £20 plus for a fabric cover. This did the job.

5. Rug - (sorta) free. From my years in Grasmere St, Leicester. The house had wooden floors.

6. Stand lamp - (sorta) free. Again, from Grasmere St.

So really, we didn't buy anything new since Adam moved in to Leicester last year, apart from the Xbox 360 - and even that is second-hand.

(My mom always wonders how is it that we're so thrifty given that both of us are doctors.)

Speaking of Xbox, I played Castle Crashers yesterday and this popped up.

Sent it to Adam because he was on a long day 13-hr shift, hehehe.

And I thought I'd share this picture as well.

This was last night when Adam just got home from his shift having dinner, and I love how everyone was very fixated on the movie. Reminds me that yes, this flat is quite expensive for what it is, but nothing compares to having everyone in the same space comfortably. (We could never do this in Leicester.)

Anyways, my favourite space of this flat is actually the kitchen! Will probably share that one someday.

The longest January yet.

January feels like it's dragging on foreeveeeerr. Let's see, I've done nights (8.30pm-9.30am), I've done lates (2pm-10pm), I've even done long days (8.30am-9.30pm). And I'm currently on day 8 of a 9-day stretch, yet it's not even February! There's something about this Paediatrics job that makes time go awfully selloowww I swear.

On the bright side, I've actually been working for nearly 2 months on this job, nearly half way done!

Anyway, on to my favourite topic - Seed.

He's a big boy now! Fine, more like tummy's getting bigger and bigger. I can no longer sujud without feeling the pressure around the hip. Walking fast means holding my tummy for support (read: mums' instinctive mechanism). I just feel constantly heavy.

Which brings us to the next point - I'm not exactly heavy, heavy. I've only gained a little over 4kgs over the last 6 months. I don't look terribly pregnant apart from the growing tummy. So I shouldn't really feel that 'heavy', if anything.

In fact, I've hit my current weight once when I was home in Malaysia for nearly 2 months or so. So really, this isn't really heavy.

It's a lie if I say I'm not worried about Seed not growing enough - after all people keep warning me about weight gain in pregnancy and I, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. I've been constantly tired and stressed on the job, and I well know it can affect baby's growth.

But I keep reminding myself, as long as Seed's healthy, figures don't matter. He's been kicking up a storm, his favourites are handover time at work and just as I'm about to sleep. I have a feeling he's responding to voices (hence the handover dance!). Also, he sometimes kicks like mad when Adam's telling me things, and pauses when I tell Adam about this - what a cheeky bunny.

I've been told that babies recognise the language spoken to them - as if, they pick up the accent and lingo. Obviously they might not understand just yet, but they're aware. And for this very reason, I reeeeally think Adam and I should speak more English at home.

Yes, we often talk gibberish to each other - (rahsia kebahagiaan, kah!). How to speak English then?

Craving-wise, I find myself in a bit of a sticky dark mess of coffee addiction. I cannot get the Hazelnut Coffeemate that we had in The States out of my mind. That. Is. Pure. Gold. I tell you. So I've been looking for alternatives here - Old Town's not one of them as they're too high in sugar, and the less sugar ones taste too artificial to my liking. So I ended up scouring through Amazon and found the Hazelnut Coffeemate, for a friggin' £7! Gaaahhhhhh.

Although to be fair, it's not really the money I'm too concerned about, it's the potential exponential increment of coffee consumption that might come with it that's more worrying.

(Word of caution: I might still end up buying it, lol.)

So yeah, reeeally. Nothing too exciting going on right now. My family's now here, actually in Amsterdam to be exact, ha! Other than that, life's pretty much as what it is - work and sleep. I've also been posting from my iPhone instead of laptop, because, sleeeeeep. (I need at least 8-9hours of sleep to function properly the next day).

Mad respect to pregnant doctors who work until right before they're due!

One not-terribly-pregnant doctor counting hours to finish her 13-hour shift. 

Something warm and fuzzy.

There's something about living abroad thousands of miles away from home, just the two of you - just him, and you. 

It can be pretty lonely, it can seem like an endless journey with no definite destination, and at times, it can be really frustrating. 

But it's mostly amazing. The love that you have for each other, is a different kind of love. It's the tenderness, the affection, the morning snuggles on a frosty Sunday morning when you have to work for a 13-hour shift, knowing full well that none of us really wants to do that. 

It's knowing that we're in this together, lonely or not. Alone, we can be lonely together, can't we?

Adam was about to snuggle up to me one night, when I suddenly shoved a bolster into him and turned the other way. I was half-asleep (with somehow very good reflex) so of course I didn't remember anything. 

So when he told me this the next morning, we laughed. He even acted out the whole thing again - there we were, two perfectly grown adults on a foreign land far far away from home - jumping in bed, re-enacting the scene that wouldn't even mean much to others. But at that moment, at that very moment, it felt like we belong here. We belong together, and that's all that matters.

It's just warmth and fuzziness. 

I have a habit of tickling his feet in the morning when they stick out of the duvet (he's just got really long legs!), and he would shuffle, sometimes even wiggle his toes, half-asleep. 

The same as how he likes to snuggle up to me at night, and hold me close when I'm asleep. I don't think he even realises doing it, especially in the middle of the night - I'm a light sleeper, he's the complete opposite, totally comatosed. Still, he'd give me soft pats as if trying to put me back to sleep.

(Basically we really like each other when one of us is asleep.)

I suppose that's the thing about the togetherness in us. Lonely or not, we're in this, together. 

Always.

Sugar talks.

I want cakes. I know I usually just tweet about it but this time I might as well write. 

Cakes. The way of life. 

Speaking of, last time when we went back to Malaysia, we had a deep discussion about sugar, health and all sweet things. 

What you must know is that Adam selaaaaalu bantai I sebab suka makan cake and ice cream. And unhealthy things in general. Dulu kat KMB dia siap sorokkan air tin Nescafe sebab I suka sangat minum coffee. Ada sekali tu dia bagitau our other classmate suruh pesan kat I jangan makan banyak sangat. Kemain.

So sama lah lepas kawen pun. Kadang2 risau sebab Bella suuuuuka makan cake. Adam takberapa sangat sweet things. Dia suka anything cold, rather. Particularly yogurt.

Anyways, kitorang balik Malaysia check blood sugar masing2. Curious. Alang2 ada test strip kat rumah Umi. 

And guess what? My fasting sugar was 4.7! For someone yang memang sweet tooth, that's pretty impressive. Adam? 5.9, amek ha. To be fair dia makan kerepek pisang just before testing, but still..

So we agreed, I memang suka benda manis, tapi I sangat particular pasal sugar intake on things that I can control. Eg, 3in1 drinks. Especially coffee ones. They're loaded with sugar sebab nak counter pahit coffee tu supaya jadi lemak2 berkrim. 

I stop herbalife dulu pun sebab conscious dengan sugar dia :( 

Ada sekali at some point I quit sugar cold turkey. Kalau boleh memang aim less than 4 teaspoon per day - including makanan dalam packet. Note that I memang jaaaaaarang letak gula dalam minuman macam coffee (again), so most of my sugar intake dari packet/prepared food je. 

Simple tips yang I practice bila nak beli makanan kat kedai dalam packet/bungkusan untuk tengok kandungan gula. 

1. Tengok under "carbohydrate, of which sugar" dia berapa per 100 gram. As a ground rule, 4g sama dengan satu sudu kecik gula. Anything less than 4g is considered low sugar, anything above 20g is high in sugar. 5 sudu kecik bak hang. And kalau fikir balik, 20g sugar per 100g, 1/5 kandungan makanan tu ialah gula semata!

2. Tengok order of ingredients. It's a regulation rasanya, that manufacturer kena letak ingredients in order of significance. So kadang2 tu kalau beli juice atau kordial, tengok ingredients list, contohnya - Water, sugar, blackcurrant extract, etc.. Maksudnya gula dia lagi significant dari actual juice. Sama dengan coffee 3in1 (lagi, sebab I memang suka minum kopi), ada satu produk tu ingredients in order dia adalah - Creamer, sugar, coffee..... Last2 baru dia letak herba ke apa entah. Kat laaaaast sekali! (Ni brand kopi yang market untuk kesihatan). Hm, maksudnya herba atau bahan2 untuk sihat dalam kopi tu sikit sangat. Instead dia hanyalah kopi, creamer campur gula. Harga pun boleh tahan. 

I have nothing against these health products, cuma 3in1 meeeemang kena be careful with. Haritu masa buat elektif kat klinik kesihatan, ada new diagnosis of diabetes, umur baru 27. Puncanya suuuuka minum 3in1, siap tambah susu pekat lagi. Minum kopi sihat ok, bukan Nescafe biasa2 tu. 

Rakyat Malaysia makan kat kedai dah la minum air manis (teh ais sedap please!), kat rumah pun nak tambah lagi manis. And makanan ruji kita nasi, which is carbohydrate yang akan bertukar kepada gula kalau tak convert jadi tenaga (exercise). Simple but often overlooked. Semua menyumbang ke arah kencing manis.

Ke arah 2017 yang lebih sihat, marilah lebih conscious dengan apa yang kita beli/makan. Slow2, lama2 terbiasalah. Take it from someone yang hantu cake ni :)

Dr. Bella.

SeedBoy.

Good gosh it's been a year since I last blogged!

#lamenewyearjokealert

It's been a month, precisely. And I miss this space more than anything! I feel like I'm slowly detaching from the online world (my blog!) and it's really bugging me!

I should probably make a wrap of 2016 like normal people do when it gets to new year, but sadly my reflecting skill has gone down steeply after I started, urm, doctoring. Every day is a blur. Suddenly it's like, woah, 2017 already?

But I can tell you what happened since 1st December 2016..

This.

This little one has grown so much since last time!

Aanddd...

It's a SeedBoy!

Yeap, it's a he. And this little guy has been kicking around more than ever. It's the funniest feeling because whenever Adam comes near my tummy to say hi, he remains quiet. And I often make random remarks like "Seed says hi", "Seed just wakes up", etc when he goes on a kicking spree. Oh well I guess Adam can wait a bit longer to feel those.

Pregnancy-wise, I can no longer sleep on my back without waking up ache-free the next day. And I can no longer fit into regular trousers - yes I'm currently wearing one of those hideous maternity trousers, at 20 weeks - cringe! I get nauseated very easily on car rides, not so much on a plane. And the scariest thing is that I forget things and do silly mistakes all the time - not sure if it's the pregnancy or just me. :(

Work-wise, I'm currently doing Paediatrics (kids!). It's a lot less taxing than Surgery, but of course, I still want to quit. Let's leave it at that.

Life-wise, I realised that Adam and I are still the loving couple that we are. We've been married for more than 4 years, yet we're still as clingy to each other.  We always joke about how both of us don't really have best friends apart from each other, but I'm not saying this lightly - be each other's best friend. Love might come in waves, but the friendship always remains. And with friendship, there's always love in it.

So yes, 2017 is going to bring a pretty big change, inshaAllah. 

Game on, baby. (quite literally)