Before my pregnancy becomes a distant memory somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight , let me continue profiling it until D-day (delivery day):

Month 6:

I could feel baby’s movements were getting stronger though not painful.  His squirms and kicks were more pronounced in the mornings (sometimes acting as a human alarm clock to me) and afternoons.  Thankfully he will quieten down during the nights making for more bearable snooze although the expanding belly and frequent visits to the washrooms make for many interrupted sleeps.  The doctor gave me a fetal movement monitoring chart and instructed me to complete the homework of counting ten movements within 12 hours.  This exercise is to check on the overall well-being of the baby.  The food cravings started kicking in although the preferences will change over the course of the pregnancy.

Month 7:

My current maternity clothes (the bottoms) were getting snug so on to more shopping and spending of money  EL and I have been purchasing baby items in the last few months.  We are very blessed to have family and friends who bought and/or gave us plenty of baby clothing, cot, pram, car seat, feeding bottles’ steriliser, monetary gifts and et cetera.  They had told us that we would be burning a very large hole in the pocket for the new arrival and that warning could not be more true, sigh.  My weight increased exponentially due to my insatiable appetite.  It did not help that my food cravings were all high in fat, salt and sugar (what food craving isn’t, right ?) such as wanton noodles, roast duck, ice-cream and egg tarts.  The doctor warned me to stay off these foods and to eat more healthily  During this period, I had a mild urine infection and had to take a course of antibiotics and drink plenty of water.  My whole body especially feet were very swollen (they looked like sausages, haha!)

Month 8:

Baby has been in a breech position for many months (head up and bottom down).  With the recommendation of the doctor, I did some exercises every day which were supposed to encourage baby to move head down but apparently he was too comfortable where he was!:)  Due to this, my doctor advised me to undergo a Caesarean section operation for the safety of the child.  He noted via ultra sound scan that the umbilical cord was situated very close to baby’s neck hence he dared not risk turning the baby for fear of strangulation.  The increasing weight of the belly is making sleep pretty uncomfortable even though I had pillows cushioning me all around.  I was also getting a bit impatient for the arrival of baby.  In addition, it was the first Chinese New Year that the Loh family celebrated in the Klang Valley instead of Kuantan due to my burgeoning condition.

Month 9:

We had some friends who delivered earlier than expected.  That made me a bit anxious as my obstetrician was on Chinese New Year leave until end of February and I did not want to be pay double the fees for the confinement lady.  We have scheduled the operation on the 4th of March.  Thankfully baby is a good boy and decided to pop out only 2 days before the scheduled delivery.

What about the actual labour and delivery?  Well, that’s another story and blog post!:)

Currently, I am in my 5th month of pregnancy and thought of profiling my pregger status month to month here.  This is not so much for the educational benefit of my beloved readers (hey, is anyone still reading my blog?) because it’s always best to get medical information from reliable and qualified sources but more for general interest and an honest reminder to myself when I have the bundle of joy in my arms next year.  I don’t want to downplay the highlights of pregnancy (e.g. I’m puking all the time!) and neither do I want to gloss over the unsavoury aspects (e.g. ooh, it was smooth going all the time!).

Here’s a summary of my experience from Month 1 to 5:

Month 1

I had a sneaky suspicion that I had a ‘bun in the oven’ when I missed my menstruation (you may call that woman’s instinct, haha!).  Thus, like what most women do, I bought a home pregnancy test kit and the results was positive.  What may not be so common an action was that I bought another kit and tested again!    Yes, yes, Mei Leng can be paranoid at times and not rest until she gets something absolutely right…and of course the results came out similar!  My doctor was amused when I related this incident and had my first ultrasound scan to observe the baby.  The baby looked like a bean at this stage (pretty cute actually!).  Physically, I felt normal but bloated; similar to the feeling of overeating.

Month 2

I studiously took the folic acid supplement that was prescribed by the doctor.  It is a very essential acid to protect against Neural Tube Defects (NTD) which result in malformations of the spine, brain and skull.  The baby looked like a little lizard and honestly the sight wasn’t very appealing.  My strength seemed completely sapped and I was resting most of the time.  I was praying that I wouldn’t suffer from morning sickness but it inevitably came with a vengeance!  Most food consumed came right out into the toilet bowl (the washroom was my best friend during this period as I urinated more frequently too, haha!).  But I had my good and bad days; there were times when even though I felt nauseous, I didn’t threw up at all but at other times, I vomited a few times a day.  As a result, I lost about 2 kilograms in a month which the doctor assured me was pretty normal due to the vomiting.  She adviced me to take smaller but more frequent meals and to avoid spicy and greasy foods to prevent heartburn and indigestion.  Besides that, I was not allowed to consume Chinese herbs as the herbs can be harmful to the baby.  Due to the increasing hormone levels, my body was heating up very quickly and I decided to have my long locks chopped off.

Month 3

The morning sickness did not abet just yet though I was thankful that it did not occur everyday.  However, I could not attend church meetings occasionally due to the physical tiredness.  I also suffered from heartburn and indigestion especially during bed-time which made sleeping difficult and thus the vicious cycle of feeling tired the next day.  In addition, I became partial to porridge, Chinese-style soup and Nam Heong’s chicken rice due to the healthiness of the food.  Some clothes became too snug for me to wear (especially jeans) therefore EL and I went for maternity clothes’ shopping.  My favourite clothes from then until now are cotton shorts and T-shirts.  I enjoy taking frequent cool showers and love sleeping on the floor (with the cushions as a makeshift bed) as the heat was quite unbearable a lot of times.  But all these ‘little sacrifices’ to my body was more than compensated by the hearing of the strong and swift ’dup dup dup’ of the heartbeat and looking at the acrobatic antics and hip-hop dance movements of baby   There was even once when we espied a thumbs up from the active child!  It was a heartening sight indeed for us.

Month 4

It was getting more evident that I was with child as my stomach swelled increasingly though I do not carry as big as some other women.  I resigned to the fact that I could not fit into more of my clothes.  Thankfully my skin did not have major breakouts.  Some friends mentioned that I had a pregnant glow and looked healthy.  I suffered from swollen feet but that did not bother me much as I wore comfortable slip-ons.  Physically I felt much better compared to the earlier months as I did not have morning sickness anymore.  Even though I had moments of tiredness, I regained a little of my energy to do some household chores and cooking.  My appetite increased in bounds and had a shock during the doctor’s visit when I gained 4 kilograms in a month’s time!  The nurse actually weighed me twice to make sure that there was nothing wrong with the weighing machine, haha!   I went for the second trimester antenatal blood tests and we are thankful that the outcome seemed good for the baby.  The doctor started prescribing me multivitamins and had our first ultrasound scan picture printed out for keepsake.

Month 5

I am happy to note that I am able to partake of more types of food (except for raw/undercooked, spicy and greasy food, sigh).  Suprisingly, I have no food cravings  but I do enjoy eating carbohydrates like rice and bread.  By the next doctor’s visit this month, we will be able to know the gender of the baby.  My belly is growing bigger and there’s no hiding the fact that I am an expectant mother now.  For the first time in my life, I was referred to by the retail sales assistant as ’perempuan besar’ (big lady); don’t know whether I should laugh or sigh about that!   As the uterus expands to accomodate the growing baby, there were slight pangs of pain felt especially during the night-time.  Early this week, I finally felt baby’s movements in the middle of the night.  The baby’s punches and/or kickings were pretty distinct though not uncomfortable.  The feelings I had during that time were suprise and abundant love for this God-given child growing inside of me.  Sometimes, I will talk, touch (via caressing my stomach) and sing to the baby.  EL loves communicating with baby too which can be pretty comedic (to me) at times

During this period of pregnancy, some of the important lessons that I learnt were:

1) Dependence upon God

EL and I are truly thankful that God has blessed us with this wonderful gift of baby at His time.  Frankly speaking, there were times when I felt annoyed at well-meaning friends who periodically asked us when we were going to have a child.  Of course this is one of the usual questions asked of married couples and I concede to that.  But God is the One who is in control of all things.  We can only plan then submit and pray that God will answer us in accordance to His will and purpose.  It is not for us mere creatures of God to dictate to Him.  Thus, a little sensitivity and consideration from those dear and close would be truly appreciated (haha, one of my rare angst-y moments in writing )  In addition, I am always mindful that this child is a gift from God; God gives and takes because it is His right.  I constantly pray that God will protect this child and give me a safe and smooth pregnancy but at the same time, if something bad should  happen, to give us the strength to praise Him in spite of it.  Even though EL and I pray for the physical well-being of the child, it is more important as Christian parents to be concerned for the child’s spiritual health; that he/she will love the Lord Jesus Christ as his/her personal Saviour and Lord.

2) Loving and Supportive Husband

It’s a real bonus to have EL with me most of the time.  His presence played a significant role in me not suffering from mood swings and emotional ups and downs related with the raging hormone levels during pregnancy thus far.  He pampers me by preparing breakfast (or taking me out for my favourite breakfast, fried vermicelli with cheese-filled sausage and iced Milo at Murni Mamak), helping out with the household chores and making me a cuppa of my favourite warm beverage before I turn in for the night   The husband-wife relationship becomes closer because we know we are in the pregnancy, for good and bad, together.  As Wonderpets would sing, “What makes it work?  TEAMWORK!” (EL would probably cringe when he reads this, haha!)

3) To be more easygoing

The significant ebb of physical strength has really changed how things are done around the house.  Before this, I admit that I’m a stickler for cleanliness, neatness and organisation at home (hmmm, sounds more like an army base, eh?).  But now, I can look at the thin layer of dust that settles on furniture and the pile of unironed and unfolded clothes without getting worked up.  Initially, the undone household chores did bother me a bit but then I think to myself that the world won’t come to an end because of that.  Do I want to ignore the doctor’s advice and harm myself and baby from physical exertion?  Of course not!  Furthermore, the house is still very habitable and comfortable thanks to EL and with me being able to do more now.

]]> http://www.meilengloh.com/?feed=rss2&p=632 2 http://www.meilengloh.com/?p=628 http://www.meilengloh.com/?p=628#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:49:12 +0000 meileng http://www.meilengloh.com/?p=628 Apologies to my beloved readers for the long absence from my blog….why don’t I share some wonderful news with you to make up for it?  

EL and I are expecting our first child!  We received the good news last week.  Thus far, there hasn’t been much drastic physical changes except feeling more tired than usual and having food cravings, haha!   We are very thankful to God for this gift and pray that He will give us a healthy and normal child. 

I am currently editing my posts and photos so that everything will look spick and span (at least to me lah!) which will take some time.  Constructive criticisms, comments and feedbacks of the new look will be much appreciated!

Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps   

You won’t admit you love me
And so how am I ever to know
You always tell me
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps

A million times I’ve asked you
And then I ask you over again
You only answer
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps

If you can’t make your mind up
We’ll never get started
And I don’t wanna wind up
Being parted, broken-hearted

So if you really love me say yes
But if you don’t dear, confess
And please don’t tell me
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps

If you can’t make your mind up
We’ll never get started
And I don’t wanna wind up
Being parted, broken-hearted

So if you really love me say yes
But if you don’t dear, confess
And please don’t tell me
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
Perhaps – perhaps – perhaps [fade]

Frogs and snails and puppy dogs’ tails,

That’s what little boys are made of.

What are little girls made of?

Sugar and spice and all that’s nice,

That’s what little girls are made of. 

- English nursery rhyme -

Le Meridien KL Sentral is having different special-themed afternoon tea each month for the second quarter of the year at the Conservatory.  The theme in April was ‘Chocolate’ followed by ‘Spices’ in May and lastly ‘Sugar’ in June.  My sis-in-law took us and her friend M for the Spices Afternoon Tea recently.

Snapshots of the interior:

The menu for Spices Afternoon Tea as follows:

Caraway Cinnamon Spices Mini Croissant Filled with Butter Roasted Apple

Homemade ‘Pain D’epices’ with Honey and Salted Butter

Chicken Rendang Croquette Served with Tomato Tobasco Gazpacho

Passion Fruit, Orange Crush and Cardamon Shot

Ginger Tiramisu Cake

Pan-seared Tuna Loin Coated with Black Olive and Berbere Spices on Babaganoush Eggplant Puree

Chicken Satay in Golden Pie with Sesame Seed

Curry Prawns ‘A La Plancha’, Mango Salsa and Lemony Hollandaise Sauce

Amaretto Cherry Cheesecake with Cinnamon Whipping Cream

Homemade Lamb Keema Spring Roll

Crabmeat and Asparagus Rolled in Fine Crepe with Thai Chili Sauce

Button Mushroom in Tom Yam Cream Sauce

Overall, the food was delicious especially the desserts but the portions were too dainty for EL and I.  Plebeians’ stomachs are too hale and hearty for the delicate appetites of the patricians , hehe   

Our free flow of coffee and tea (Iced Latte, Iced Mocha, Chamomile Tea and Peppermint Tea):

Restaurant details:

The Conservatory Lounge,

Lobby Level, Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur,

2 Jalan Stesen Sentral,

Kuala Lumpur Sentral,

50470 Kuala Lumpur.

Operating Hours: 7.00 am to 1.00 am

Tel. No.: 603 – 2263 7888

One of the new soup recipes which I tried not long ago is ‘Samgyetang’ (from Korean to English: Sam = Ginseng, Gye = Chicken and Tang = Soup; not too different from the Chinese language, huh?).  This soup dish is traditionally served in Korea during summer accompanied by side dishes (Banchan) and a complimentary glass of ginseng wine.  The Koreans believe in the adage of ‘fighting fire with fire’ as the ’hot’ soup replaces the body’s nutrients lost through sweating and physical exertion in the sweltering heat.  The main ingredients of this soup is a whole young chicken and fresh Korean ginseng stuffed with glutinous rice, garlic and jujube.  Other medicinal ingredients such as ginger, gingko nuts (pak kor), wolfberries (kei chi), Codonopsis pilosula (tong sam), and Angelica sinensis (tong kwai) may also be added.  Samgyetang is a revered dish in Korea due its beneficial properties.

Samgyetang Recipe courtesy of Maangchi:

Ingredients:

1 small Chicken, gutted and cleaned (I used skinned ’Kampung’/Village Chicken for a healthier option; you may choose to have the skin intact)

1/4 cup Glutinous Rice (I omitted this)

12 Garlic cloves

Spring onions, chopped

12 Jujubes/dried Red Dates, washed and seeded (’Hong Zhou’ in Cantonese)

1 or 2 fresh Ginseng roots (I used dried Ginseng whiskers or ‘Yan Sam Sou’ in Cantonese)

1 pack of Samgyetang Herbs

Method:

1) Stuff chicken with half of the quantity of garlic cloves, spring onions, jujubes, ginseng and herbs.

2) Place stuffed chicken into a pot.  Pour water until chicken is just submerged.  Add the balance of the ingredients into the pot.

 3) Boil soup for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  You may add a little salt before serving the soup with rice (omit this if you have added glutinous rice) and kimchi.  I personally do not like to add seasoning into my home-cooked soups as the ingredients would have acted as natural flavouring agents.     

Enjoy this highly nutritious soup!

My sis-in-law TA took us out for lunch at Tony Roma’s (TR’s) during a recent weekend.  The last time when we went to TR’s Cineleisure located at Mutiara Damansara, the place was fully booked and we (or rather our stomachs) didn’t have the patience to wait for our turn to be seated.  Since then, EL had been hankering to go there and his gastronomic dream finally came true, haha!  

I noticed that generally steakhouses have woodsy interiors; possibly to convey an unpretentious and down-to-earth ambience (well, it’s quite difficult to act high and mighty when you’re chomping down on a slab of red meat, hehe).  The interior design at TR’s had a nice blend of modern and rustic; even the brickworks are just facades concealing the concrete and wooden walls behind.  Black and white picture frames lined the walls.  TR’s does not have its own washroom which could be inconvenient when you want to wash up after eating with your fingers.    

 We were served complimentary baguettes with garlic butter spread:

The 2 bread pieces which were conveniently cut into slices were warm, soft and fluffy.  The garlic butter scoop on the side was tasty although I would have preferred a more pungent garlicky taste.

Our Bottomless Beverages (models not included, hehe!).  I wondered why the waiter gave EL a smaller glass than the rest of us though

Next up was a humongous Tony’s Sampler for starters:

The platter consisted of buffalo wings, onion loaf, potato skins and raw vegetable sticks with 3 different types of dipping sauce.  I LOVE the celery sticks because I can ‘psycho’ myself that I am eating healthily while dipping them into the fattening but delicious sauces, haha!   The buffalo (i.e. chicken) wings were spicy and a tad too salty for my liking.  As for the onion loaf which consisted of onion rings breaded and deep-fried, it’s best to eat when still piping hot as the onions rings became soggy after a while.  The potato skins topped with bacon and chives were okay; I still prefer the ones in Jack’s Place.   

Our waitress recommended one of the new items on the menu, Wagyu Beef Steak:

Ooh-la-la, this steak dish is THE BOMB!   Haha…seriously, it was the highlight of lunch for me.  Served with steamed broccoli florets and baked potatoes with sour cream, bacon and chives, the super-expensive piece of meat was cooked to medium rare perfection thanks to the suggestion of our red meat expert TA as the meat gets tougher the longer it’s cooked.  The taste is truly indescribable; so tender, flavourful and juicy without any sauce to mar its exquisiteness.  Since then, I have been dreaming of eating Wagyu beef (yes, yes, continue to dream on, right?).  Even while writing this piece and looking at the pictures of the glistening meat, my mouth starts to salivate like Pavlov’s Dog, haha!       

Our second main dish was TR’s Bountiful Beef Ribs: 

The beef ribs were basted in TR’s original sauce and we felt like The Flintstones while gnawing on the meat!   You can choose from 6 types of TR’s in-house sauces (aiyah, can’t remember the names of the sauces as we forgot to snap a picture) to go with the ribs.  I personally prefer without any sauce as the beef ribs had a lovely smoky, slightly spicy and sweet flavour of its own.  TA and E commented that the coleslaw was nice; I could see that it striked a right balance of being not too dry while not drowning in mayonnaise. 

The last main dish was Roma Burger:

By this time, all of us were stuffed to the brim.  We decided to doggy bag-ed this burger of chunky beef patty served with french fries, Cheddar cheese (can you see the cheese oozing out of the burger?), shredded lettuce, tomato, red onions and pickles.  Even after heating the burger up in the microwave oven for dinner, the burger tasted pretty yummy, so you can imagine how delicious it will be if we had eaten there and then in the restaurant!

Erm, maybe our stomachs were not too full for dessert, hehe

TR’s Chocolate Avalanche comes with a piece of moist chocolate cake and a huge scoop of vanilla ice-cream topped with hot chocolate fudge and Heath Bar crumbles.  My verdict is ‘have chocolate, will work’, haha!  

TR’s is a great dining place for family and friends as you can share the huge portions amongst yourselves.  If you are one of those who survive on raw vegetables and water, do avoid this place as you will be in a food hell! (and why should you be torturing yourself with rabbit food in the first place?)

Thanks a bunch TA for the lovely ‘mucho meat-os’ and burp-a-licious lunch!

Restaurant details:

Tony Roma’s CineLeisure,

G29(II), G-32 and G-33,

Ground Floor, Mutiara Damansara,

47800 Petaling Jaya,

Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Tel No.: 603 – 7728 7833

Website: www.tonyromas.com

This soup is very easy to make with relatively few ingredients needed.  The recipe below can easily serve 3 people.

Ingredients:

2 fistfuls Bean Sprouts

Dried anchovies/’ikan bilis’

Dried kelp 10 X 10 cm in size (please refer to my ‘Korean Food Ingredients’ post for the product picture)

1/2 tsp Minced Garlic

1 Green Chili, seeded and thin sliced (I omitted this)

1 tsp Salt (I used 1/2 tsp)

6 cups Water

Method:

1) Rinse bean sprouts and drain.  Discard rotten/bad sprouts.

2) Pour water into pot.  Add dried anchovies and dried kelp then boil for 20 to 25 minutes.

3) Remove kelp and anchovies from the soup stock.

4) Add bean sprouts and boil for 1 minute (Note: do not overcook bean sprouts to retain the crispy texture). 

5) Add minced garlic, salt and green chili.

6) Boil for 30 seconds then switch off stove fire. 

You can enjoy this healthy soup on its own or add some rice into the soup (called ‘Kongnamulgukbap’) for a more substantial meal.

Just for your information (if you’re interested):

The top post of all time is …….(trumpets blowing) Boys Over Flowers (Korean Hana Yori Dango).  That is not suprising because the trendy drama series has just recently concluded in Korea and in a number of countries such as Malaysia, it is currently airing via subscription-based satellite television.  I foresee that the F4 fever will not die down anytime soon what with girls everywhere swooning over their favourite Flower Boys’ member.  Well, that’s how the visitors came to my blog-by searching for Boys Over Flowers! 

As for the rest of the Top 10 posts, they are predictably food posts!  If I didn’t know any better, I would make a proposal to the leaders of the world that the be-all and end-all solution for conflicts, sufferings and wars is to organise a gargantuan love feast!  However, sinners that we all are, it would probably end up in a food fight instead!  On the positive side, food does really bring people together, eh? 

Hot on the heels of the Top 10 posts is the lovely poem The Sea.  The post had the most comments from readers of Jamaican background.  Author’s Profile lingers behind, which is wonderful as a penman will prefer the writings to be more recognised than the person him/herself. 

Of course I want to THANK YOU, my beloved reader, for being so supportive in reading my blog.  To be honest, I take a lot of time, thought and effort each time I write a blog post.  You might wonder why and the reason is found in God’s Word, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)  What is spoken and/or written cannot be taken back.  If the words were negative and unedifying, the damage has been done (and could be long-lasting) and repercussions would follow.  Having God’s Word in mind,  I would seek to have my words be acceptable in God’s sight.        

God willing, I will keep on thinking in writing!