Gestational Diabetes

The first thing that the diabetic midwife told me when we meet her was that the gestational diabetis did not occur because of anything I did or ate. The reason it happened is that during pregnancy my body requires extra insulin for the growing baby and so, there is now not enough insulin. Or, because of the many hormones running through the body because of pregnancy, the insulin in my body is not acting as efficiently as it should. Therefore, it is NOT my fault! Fuh..what a relief..

The risk in having GD is that the baby may get bigger and requires a c-sect later to deliver. The baby's body will also produce extra insulin to cope with the extra glucose and will result in the baby having low glucose after birth and will have to be taken to special care unit for her glucose levels to be monitored. Having GD also means that I am at risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life..

Then she goes on to explain some modifications that I will need to do to my diet to control my glucose levels. I should eat regular meals, avoid sugary and fattening foods, increase intake of starchy food like rice and pasta, eat low-fat dairy etc. The suprising thing is that i need to decrease intake of fruits and vegetables from the recommended amount of 5 portions a day to 4 portions a day. The reason is that fruits contain natural sugar. I should also watch out for sweet fruits like over-ripe banana, melons etc.

As i control my diet, I will need to monitor my glucose levels daily. She gave me a home glucose testing kit, and explained to me how to use it. It's really quite complicated to do...maybe i'm not used to it yet..i have to take blood sample twice or sometimes once a day.

my glucose kit. I like the package, neat ada bag dia sendiri. The monitor is digital and gives the reading. This machine must be calibrated for every new pack of strips and it must be checked every week with glucose water to make sure it works properly.

Here's the prick! with needles, and strips. Try sekali tadi prick my finger and read the reading in front of the midwife, to make sure i know how to do it...sakit jugak! tapi oklah...

My glucose monitoring diary...she gave me a schedule for when i need to check my glucose levels daily for this week. Next week on Wednesday I will have to come in to see her again. I guess i cannot cheat in my diet lah..she will check it every week..I was quite surprise how frequent i will have to have my ante-natal check-up now..in addition to the weekly check-up, I will also have to come in for frequent scanning to make sure the baby's not growing too big (separate sessions) kesian my husband..nanti his work will pile up..dahla dia tgh busy skarang...sorry bang...

to dispose of the needles

There is quite a long procedure that she taught me to use this kit. How to calibrate, how to test the machine, how to set up the needle, how to put in the strip, how to prick etc. My husband said I should write it all down or else I might forget how. I'm thinking I will have to lock myself up in a room before I conduct the tests otherwise i can never get it done with Adam around..

I really hope controlling my diet can help control my glucose levels...If by dieting my insulin is still not enough...i may need tablets or insulin shots..

The midwife also checked my belly and the baby's heartbeat...then she said, wait, where's your baby's head?? she quickly then ordered a scan for me....tgk2...la...the babys is breeched! Alamak Baby sayang...pls turn soon ok...if she is breeched, dahla size might be big..payahla nak dpt deliver normally...at 34 weeks they will check again, if still breech, they will refer me to...(ok lupa department ape) where they will try to turn the baby from outside..

hmm...hopefully everything will be ok..

Looking at it from another angle though, it's amazing how the NHS here works. I mean, all of this care for me is free! Is there a similar system by hospital kerajaan in Malaysia? We took things for granted with Adam because we have insurance kan..with NHS, any pregnant lady in similar condition would have this special care available...imagine someone with no money...this free medical care would really help! alhamdulillah...

Adam's Developmental Check-up

This morning Adam had his 2 year old developmental check-up with the health visitors. They arrange it in groups of toddlers of the same age. Basically they just sit down with us, and talked about feeding and healthy eating, potty training, fine and gross motor skills, social skills, speech development etc. I thought the session was very good, basically just making sure that they are reaching the skills that they're supposed to reach at this age...I wanted to raise the issue on speech development especially because I was a little concern that eventhough his speech is developing, it might be slower than expected. But after talking to them, apparently Adam's speech is just fine and there is nothing to worry about. However if after a few months I'm still concerned, they can refer us to speech therapists just to help him develop his speech..

I find it so impressive that they have this check-up for free here. Upon reaching 2 years old, Adam immediately get a letter from the health visitors. It's amazing how attentive they are to children's welfare and developments.

Later during the afternoon, Adam had another appointment with the GP for his immunisation. The immunisation schedules here are a little different, and apparently Adam had missed one jab. Risau jugak tadi..because the last time he had his jab, he was much younger and wasn't really aware of what's going on. Today, he actually thought we were there to check on the Baby. After a while, he looked a little suspicious because the doctor and nurses keep checking him, and he knew we were talking about him. When he had the jab, i initially thought he would struggle and maybe cry. But he just looked a little shocked..and then buat muka tahan tanak nangis...pastu the nurse terus offered him a panda sticker for being so brave...upon seeing the sticker, all was already forgotten..terus happy giler...as if the jab never even happened...haha...

very strong and brave Adam...proud of you...muahs!

p/s: Turns out I do have gestational diabetes! Sigh...i have an appointment tomorrow with the diabetic midwife..will tell full story later...

Beautiful Autumn

We went to the park today. We haven't been for so long because of the always gloomy weather. But winter is fast approaching so we better enjoy autumn while we still can. Luckily today it was nice and sunny..the park looked really beautiful..Adam had a lot of fun chasing squirrel...he insisted on calling squirrel 'Ka'. Apetah..pelik betul...jerit kuat2 panggil 'Ka! ka! Eat! Am!" sambil hulur daun...haha...byk pulak squirrels today..the squirrels are friendly tapi diorg takut dgn Adam..sbb dia loud sgt kot..hehe...

The pants Adam is wearing is my latest sewing project, made from scraps from Daddy's bag. Lately he's shooting up tall really rapidly that almost all of his pants doesn't fit him anymore, semua dah senteng..tinggal satu pair je yg betul2 kene height dia...so i used that pair to make the pattern for these pants and they seem to fit him well..hopefully i can get more fabric to make him more pants..

lunch at the park

my big pregnant belly at 7 months. Fuh, i really feel as huge as a whale now..i can hardly put on my own socks these days..i can't imagine how much bigger i'm going to be at 9 months. We were going to do a pregnancy photoshoot as well but it was freezing cold! Dptla few pics..pastu balik..jadiklah..

saaaayang my boys! muahs!

Daddy Shirt

Somehow my blog has turned into a craft blog instead of a baby blog lately..i'm sorry..i think being in the third trimester has triggered my nesting phase..tgn itching nak menjahit jer...i'm racing against time..so many things i have left to do..and the baby is arriving so soon now..

here's a shirt i made for my husband. nothing special, just a simple shirt. but i made a paper pattern and the shirt fits, so i'm hoping to find some good fabric to make him more shirts..this one the fabric is cheap - just one pound per meter at the market.

here's the view from the back. kesian my husband dah terlambat for work this morning...tgh dah nak pakai kasut tadi..and yet i tahan dia lagi nak amik gambar pulak..erk..sorry bang...hehe..

now for Ernie and Kak Fathin - pics with Adam :) Adam baru bgn tido masa ni..

how can i not love these adorable boys! muahs!

'muah adam..adam good boy today ok...jgn kacau2 mommy...' my husband always pesan this to Adam..hehe..because if Adam drives me up the wall..mommy will be in bad mood..if mommy's in bad mood, everybody pun kene tempias nanti...hehehe...

'muah Daddy...kut, kut?' Adam biasanya mestilah nak ikut..wlaupun pampers tgh penuh..sibuk nak pakai kasut jugak...

Bang..cpt balik k...tgif! yay esok weekend...heheh...

Moses Basket

We bought this Moses Basket from Mothercare. I made the beddings for the basket with leftover fabric from Baby's dress. The fitted sheet for the oval mattress is really easy to sew - it's the same as making an iron board cover...took me under an hour to make from tracing pattern to finishing..but i didn't enjoy making the curved double folded hem..

Mothercare has a selection of moses basket in different colours but i chose this simple white one..it's cheaper, and i love the details on the skirting here..plus with a white basket i can customise the bedding to any colour i like..

For the blanket I made this little quilt. I quilted it with free-motion quilting but i think that made it too wrinkly..wrinkly quilt could've worked with a bigger quilt but on this small one it looks weird to me..in retrospect i should've probably hand-quilted it since it's so small..it would've looked prettier..tapi takpelah, asal boleh pakai..

Work Bag for Hubby

I just finished this bag at 3.30am last night. Adam slept late, at half past 12, which gave me little time to sew but i've been thinking about finishing the bag the whole day so I just must finish it...

This bag is mainly all my husband's design. He's very obsessively organised..hehe..everything must have it's own place..the moment i said i'll make the bag for him he already planned the design..He also picked the fabrics which i must admit are excellent choices..the outside is a luscious chocolate curduroy..

little loop on the strap for his earphone

elastic pocket on one side for his water bottle

Here's what the inside looks like. I love the fabric..it's a heavyweight fabric and it goes perfectly with the brown curduroy on the outside.

elastic pockets on each side for laptop cables, phone, camera lenses

one padded pocket for his laptop (next to bag wall) and one pocket for A4 documents. Both closed with a velcro flap.

Lots of pockets on this side. One zipper pocket for coins. 4 pockets for pens. one pocket for external harddrive. the pocket in the middle has 2 tiny little pockets inside for cards and..i don't know what else..one keyholder (taken from an old bag and reused here)

My husband is really happy with the bag and that makes me happy too :)

Baby's Bubble Dress

I made another dress for Baby! oh dear, this baby had better be a girl :) I made the pattern based on the size of her previous dresses..

The fabric is my all-time favourite - Apples and Pears from Micheal Miller. Eversince i started sewing I've been eyeing this fabric. Isn't it just soo cute? perfect for Baby! The bodice (top) is a simple shape..

The idea i really really wanted to try out was this bubble skirt. It gives the dress a full, bloomy look..it was a little difficult to sew because I had to figure out how to give it the bubble look myself without a tutorial but in the end it seemed to work out..yahooo...now that i know how to make it, i can probably do another bubble skirt with a more elaborate bodice..fuh..so many ideas in my head..

For the closing on the back I used buttons..my first time making a dress with buttons..i'm getting familiar with my buttonhole foot..

do you think she has enough dresses already? i think not...hehe..