right here waiting.

The title has nothing to do with the rest of this post. It's just that I've had Richard Marx's Right Here Waiting on repeat in my car for a couple of days now. Sure brings back good childhood memories when I used to imagine that Daddy's golf tournament trophies were my microphones to sing. :p

I am watching the Top 5 contestants of American Idol sing their heart out while I am typing this.
I told myself I would stop watching if Casey Abrams fails to be in the Top 5 but I am weak (not much of a surprise ha). After being a fan of the show for the past 10 seasons, I just can't refrain myself from turning on the telly at 6:05 pm every Thursdays & Fridays.

I took leave last Monday & Tuesday because Daddy, Marc, Lene and Linn came over to visit Mr. Sunshine and I. They arrived safely, Alhamdulillah, on Saturday evening just as I was starting to prepare the Soto I had planned to serve them for dinner. Lene & Linn were the first to comment on how big my belly is right now. Hehe.
Fair enough lah kan, the last time they met me in person was 3 months ago during Faizal & Dee's wedding when I was still in my first trimester.
Lene was particularly amazed at the size of my breasts. Hahaha. Ok TMI, sorry.

Marc, Marlene and Linn helped out in the kitchen with the making of the bergedils and Mr. Sunshine fried the suhun and helped me to shred the chicken flesh into strips. :)
I'm glad all of them enjoyed my home cooked Soto. Marc even suggested I open a soto stall, hehe. But then again, they were all starving when dinner was served. :p

Our Sunday morning started with Mr Sunshine buying us Nasi Kerabu for breakfast. After that, we took our own sweet time to get ready for our trip to Kenyir Lake. We didn't go on any boat rides this time around, we decided to just enjoy the scenery and snap photos. :)
We spent the rest of Sunday afternoon at home where I taught the girls how to make the infamous batik cake with Marie biscuits.

If you're wondering why they were laughing, it was because Daddy was trying to suck in his tummy. Hehe.

 

Marc helped too !

Just in case anyone didn't know how the batik cake looked like.

Mr Sunshine was kind enough to lend a hand in the kitchen when I was preparing dinner that evening. The soles of my heels hurts when I stand for too long (thanks to the huge amount of weight I have gained), so he actually brought in a chair for me to sit while I cook. Hehe.

Awww ! Hehe.

On Monday morning after a breakfast of home cooked fried rice and mihun, we drove to Pasar Payang where we went on a hunt for fish keropok.

Can you feel their excitement ? Ok let me rephrase that, can you feel Linn's excitement ? Hehehe.

We drove to Kelulut with hopes of enjoying fried keropok lekor and fresh coconut water for tea after a stop at the Tengku Tengah Zaharah Mosque a.k.a the Floating Mosque (Masjid Terapung), but much to my disappointment, they were only catering for takeaway that day. So we adjourned to Kampung Losong for some keropok lekor.

It was obvious that Marc was starving. :p

Pandak Beach was our next stop, which is where we chose to relax & enjoy our A&W Rootbeer Floats. Daddy deserves a treat once in awhile. :)

Daddy walked a couple of meters away from us just to stand and enjoy his float. :p

Love !

And our final destination for the day was Payang Serai Restaurant in KT, where Marc & Linn treated us to a scrumptious seafood dinner in conjunction with my birthday last week. :D

The food was delicious and the price was pretty reasonable. Thank you so much Marc & Linn !!

Time sure flies when you're having a good time, and before we knew it, it was already Tuesday and they had to leave for Gombak. I woke up pretty early as I had my monthly antenatal checkup scheduled that morning during which I had to drink 75 grams of glucose but more on that later lah.
I was so touched to see this when I got back home from my checkup.

Sobs.

We said our goodbyes after having lunch at KFC, Kuala Berang.
As usual, I just had to cry after that. :p
It was great having the family over. We had a fabulous time although Manchester United lost to Arsenal (arghhh !). Hehe.

One for the road. :)

Moving on to what happened at my antenatal checkup last Tuesday morning. It was also the day I had to take the MOGTT test as mentioned in this previous post of mine (click, please).
It started out with the nurse drawing out 2 mls of my blood prior to me drinking 75 grams of glucose mixed with water. Then I had to wait for 2 whole hours before they would draw another 2 mls of blood out of me. As for other usual glucose tests, I had to fast starting from 10 pm the previous night.
While waiting, I went through the routine monthly checkup which consists of checking my weight, blood pressure, fundal height and urine for ketones. This time around I got to hear my baby's heart beat through something which I think is a doppler. It was amazing ! MashaAllah. :)

The other amazing thing is that I found out that I had gained a good 5 kilograms over the past month. 5 KILOS !!!
As a result, the doctor told me to get my blood pressure checked every other day (starting today) since I already had the MOGTT test done. Yikes. Blood pressure was normal today, Alhamdulillah.
I'm pretty worried about my weight gain pattern, I don't want to end up with gestational diabetes or any other complications related to excessive weight gain in pregnancy. :(
Mintak dijauhkan. Ameen.

All the other test results came out normal, Alhamdulillah, but I'll only get my MOGTT results after 2 weeks. I think I'll be living in fear until then. :(
Oh, I also received my first dose of the anti tetanus toxoid vaccine that day. My left arm is still sore from the injection. The second dose will be at the end of this month, InshaAllah.

Baby's movements are getting stronger by the day. Alhamdulillah. Sometimes I wonder what he/she is doing in there. Hehe.
Mr. Sunshine is able to feel the kicks and movements from the outside already, Alhamdulillah. Lene felt some movements too ! :)

Now for a closer photo of my belly at 24 weeks (6 months) and 10 kilos heavier !

Ta-da ! Huge kan ? And my Daddy's so comel. ;D

Before I end, I have a note for my family in reply to what they left on my whiteboard.


Dearest Daddy, Marc, Marlene & Linn, 

Thank you so much for driving all the way here to pay Mr Sunshine and I a visit. We truly appreciate the company and good times you spent with us ! Please do come again. Please. Please. Pleeeeeeaaasssssee ! :D

Love,
Syafiq & Melissa

Until my next post, bye !

xoxo