Second baby's dating scan :)

Yesterday (21st Dec '10) was our second baby's "dating scan". I love the word 'dating scan' because it sounds like a date with the baby. I think in actual fact it means measuring baby for its estimated due date (EDD)..? As you already know, I found out that I was pregnant on 11th Nov '10. Since we get FREE medical in the UK, it's only fair for us to wait for our turn to be seen by the doctors/midwife etc. So, 2 weeks after I found out my positive results I had an appointment with my midwife. Normally, they'd be able to predict baby's due date by last period calculation but because I have 'weird' period cycle, they couldn't find out my EDD. They then told me to wait for my dating scan so they can measure baby to know how far along I am.

My dating scan was scheduled one month after my visit with the midwife, which was yesterday. Truth be told, I was so nervous for this scan! I was not nervous of the scanning procedure, no no. There were 2 things that I was nervous of... 1) if there was no baby in my womb and 2) if I was too far along and I can't go back to Malaysia. Reason I was scared of 1 was because I don't feel pregnant at all! I mean, at all! When I was pregnant to Khairaldin, I could tell that I was pregnant as early as 3 weeks. I had some signs that I was pregnant such as, my boobs hurt sooo bad! But not with this one. I don't feel anything. The reason I took the pregnancy test was only because whenever I brushed my tongue, I felt like vomitting/nauseous (which is very unusual). I also had the same feeling when I was pregnant the first time. This nauseous whilst brushing my tongue didn't last for long though, only a few days. After that, I was back to my normal self.

So, imagine having to wait 1 month+ to find out whether I am really pregnant or not, it was torturous! Iskandar and I just tawakkal, if the baby was meant for us, it'll be there otherwise, there's no question to it.
 
Alhamdulillah yesterday, as the sonographer scanned my tummy, we could see our baby!  Both Iskandar and I were shocked at the size of our baby. He/she was bigger than what we expected. The sonographer asked if we knew how many weeks I was yesterday. We said we have no idea. So she measured everything and told me I was about 13 weeks pregnant (but in her notes, she wrote 14 weeks 5 days). Technically, when I did my first pregnancy test, I was about 8 weeks pregnant!! That is how clueless we were about this second pregnancy. Alhamdulillah first trimester went by without any fuss or even without us realising it.


As we went to the sonographer's desk, she then told us that my due date is on the 16th June 2011!!! That caught us by surprise because Khairaldin was born on 16th June 2009!!!!! If the EDD do happen for real, we are beyond excited! Then again, Khairaldin was delivered 5 days earlier than his EDD. Allah knows what's best for us, so we'll do our best by carrying this baby to the world and let Allah plan the rest that is beyond our control. After all, HE IS THE BEST OF ALL PLANNER!

In any way, we are just thankful that we are given the chance to be a parent all over again. We pray that everything will be fine for the whole family and we pray for a Soleh(ah) baby. Amin!





Oh by the way, looking at the scan today we kinda know whether it's a baby boy or girl. :D But hey, we'll leave it as a surprise since noone knows what is in the womb except for Allah swt. Do pray for our health! JazakAllah Khair!
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Life's precious manuals

Many of times I've heard people say "If only there's a manual on how we should live this life, everything will be great!". I used to be one of those people too whenever I was lost in my little clueless world. Yes, it is scary when we have nowhere to turn to. But time and again we forget that life DO come with its manual. It's called Al-Quran and Hadiths. Try looking for anything at all that you want to know about this life, or even the 'world' after! You will definitely find your answer.

Sometimes I feel like someone's watching over my shoulder and knows everything about what I am doing or going through. The signs that are shown to me is straight forward but its effect is almost like a slap in the face (it hurts so much). However, it doesn't leave a scar on my face but it does deep in my heart! 'The words' that I read hurts deep inside me and yet I take it as an eye opener rather than feeling angry over it.


I'm sure you are all saying "what is Iva going on about??". Right, so, I have a few examples on how my life has changed ever since I turned towards Al-Quran or Hadiths but I'll just stick to this one example. I used to be the type of person who says whatever I feel like saying whenever I'm upset (I still do, occasionally). There is this one time, I was so furious with one of my relative and I felt the best option was just to ignore him and break whatever relationship we have (as if it's that easy when you're really blood related! Haha). But yeah, I was furious beyond words. Then the next day, I was lazing in my Mom's room and felt like reading one of her books. As I was flipping through one of the pages, this Hadith was on the page "The one guilty of severing ties of kinship will not be admitted to Paradise." (I will check on the source soon, Insha'Allah) At that moment, I was gobsmacked and felt, 'O Allah, I am so sorry for my behaviour!!' I know Allah was upset with me at that time and HE wanted to show me the 'right' way to deal with my anger. Although I felt disgusted with myself, I know Allah is All-Merciful and the only thing was to ask for forgiveness for what I intended to do or had done. The feeling after doing the right thing is just....right. Even though at that very moment I was still angry but after reading the Hadith it got me thinking, "why would I want to do such a thing??" It felt wrong in so many ways after that!

And lately, whenever Iskandar and I are faced with difficulty in life, somehow there is just a sign to lead us back to the *happy* life rather than the miserable/Satanic life. Be it from people's status, the books we read or even the tv shows that we watch, the sign is always there. It is just how we take notice of it or do we even want to take notice of it. I'm glad I have such positive minded family and friends and also friends that are like ourselves whom are striving for goodness in this life and most importantly the greatness in Hereafter. I appreciate every single messages, e-mails or even indirect status msges that people have been posting on their Facebook. It is just refreshing to go to sleep or wake up in the morning getting those 'words of advice' from people you know personally or not. To me, Allah is just looking after me by letting me read and take note of HIS words!! No doubt random people use Ayat Quran or Hadith as their status but I know it's Allah's plan on wanting me to read it and take it into account.

By the way, I found this quote a few days back on Hadith of The Day Fanpage and all I could think of is..... SPOT ON! I've had this entry in my draft for awhile but yesterday I felt it's time to publish it and there you go, this quote sufficed my whole entry. Masha'Allah!! 

"If you want to speak to Allah, then pray solat. If you want Allah to speak to you, then read the Quran."  

How can you argue with that? :)

So yes, in order to live a spiritually healthy life, it's best to read Words of Allah as HE can never go wrong in whatever he is conveying to us! SubhanAllah!! Also remember that we are never alone, Allah is there with us when we are happy or even sad. HE will never leave our side for a blink of an eye. So, turn to HIM whenever, wherever or for whatever reason. HE is the only one we can depend on, ALWAYS! Alhamdulillah, I am glad to have known this and I hope one day when Khairaldin is feeling the blues, HE will stumble upon my blog and read all these (that's if we're not around to constantly remind him)! Insha'Allah.

"O Allah I beg you to guide my family, children and grandchildren to your path as there is no other path that could make them see how true and Almighty you are". Amin Ya Rabbal'alamin!

Working Mom VS Stay At Home Mom (SAHM)

Richness is not the abundance of wealth, rather it is self sufficiency. (Sahih Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Isn't this the most famous debate amongst our mates, Mommies? If you tell a working Mom that you're a SAHM, they'd be so envious of you. It's like "oh I wish I have your life!". As for SAHM, we have the same reaction towards Working Moms (because all we want is their monthely wages!!!!). You see, we human beings can never be satisfied with what we have, we are made this way. Period. So, instead of getting envious with our family or friend's life, try and be happy with our life first. There are pros and cons to everything that we have in this life, it's just how we make full use of it.

Here's a view from a SAHM. If you think our life is oh-so-perfect, think again! When you are a SAHM (without any maids, bare in mind) life is tough! Here's why, in my point of view:

• Most importantly, you can never take 5 mins just to go to the toilet. It's either you have to hold it in until his next nap time or just drag him to the toilet together with you (if desperate measure calls)!
- unlike working Mom's, they can just drop their work and just have that toilet time that they need.
• SAHM don't get 1 hour lunch break, it's always gobble,gobble, done!
- Working Mom's have 10mins tea break or 1 hour lunch. They still have time off for a peace of mind.
• SAHM don't get that pleasure of monthly incomes.
- Working Mom's have the pleasure to spoil themselves every month (if they chose to).

Yes, I am being kind of negative about SAHM here. Let's look at it in a better view....

• SAHM don't get paid but they get loads of cuddles and kisses every minute!
• SAHM don't get that extra long break or toilet breaks, but they do have a few hours extra just for a li'l lay in (or afternoon naps) as compared to having to wake up very early in the morning.
• SAHM 'works' as much as Working Mom's physically and mentally, trust me!

So that's the few list from me. It is what you want in life that matters most. Doesn't mean if your friend is a SAHM, they get it easy and vice versa. If you appreciate everything that is given your way, you will feel happier in life. Take control of your life as noone else could (other than Allah). If we start to count our blessings, we might feel like there's not much to it. But instead, try and make everything in our life as a blessing! Let's view life in a different way from now on, Insha'Allah, there is more things that we can appreciate than depreciate.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device