My Pregnancy Journal (Part 1)

Hellooo...

It's nearly 11pm in Jakarta. Yup, I left Ireland for good last year, and now I'm back in Jakarta. Don't ask me about the weather here. It's still the same hot and shiny weather! I keep air conditioners on almost all the time, so all good :D

I'm writing this post while sitting upward, trying not to press my belly. It's getting bigger from day to day. Yes, I and my husband are expecting our first child, Alhamdulillah :) We are so grateful and excited! There will be a new family member coming soon, inshaAllah. <3

The pregnancy is entering the 29th week now (just entering the 8th month!). The due date is predicted to be in the middle of December this year, inshaAllah. The title of this post states that this is the first part of my pregnancy journal, so it might sound too late, 29th week pregnant and I'm writing this journal just now? :D I can write all my excuses here, but who cares? Let's just say I wasn't in the mood to update my blog :P

Since this is my first pregnancy, I cannot compare this experience with anything in the past. Everything I've felt during this time is completely new for me :) People say that in the first trimester (month 1 to 3), a pregnant woman will have series of morning sicknesses, but not me. During the first trimester, I barely had one. It was just a very mild discomfort in my belly; so mild that I was thinking "Is there really a baby in there?" :D 

I didn't experience ngidam either. "Ngidam" is the term where the mother-to-be is craving for something (usually a certain food or beverage) so badly. "It's what the baby wants", that's what they say, "You have to fulfil it. Otherwise, the baby will be born drooling." Errr... not sure about that. :D Of course I want to eat or drink something during my pregnancy, but I think it's just simply what I want. If my hubby can find it, I'm happy. Otherwise, I'm fine too. He can still find it for me the next day, no problem. So, it's not "ngidam", is it? hehe..

During the second trimester (month 4 to 6), the discomfort in my belly couldn't be said "mild" anymore. It was quite bad, yet I didn't throw up frequently (only once as far as I remember). Since I felt fine, I agreed to go to my family hometown in Aceh for celebrating Eid al-Fitri. Aceh, located in the Sumatera Island, is the westernmost province in Indonesia. I, my hubby, my father, and brother went to Aceh by car. We spent 3 days and 4 nights on the road. Can you imagine how tiring the trip was? (It really was!) I threw up a few times, not because of my pregnancy, but because of the snake-shape road here and there. However, I was so grateful that I was still fine. 

In Aceh, we got a chance not only to visit our family, but also to enjoy the Weh Island (the westernmost point of Indonesia) with its georgeous and beautifuuullll beaches and view all around!! (I'll write an article about the Weh Island later on this blog, inshaAllah). Moreover, we also visited some important sites in Banda Aceh to recall the huge Tsunami happening in Aceh in 2004. The impact of the disaster was unbelievable! However, the recovery has been going on successfully, Alhamdulillah! (I'll write about this as well later, inshaAllah). We enjoyed our time in Aceh and back in Jakarta safely. The most important thing is that the baby in my belly is sound and healthy during and after the long holiday. :)

Now I'm in the third trimester (month 7 onward), and the most frequent question asked to me is "Is it a boy or a girl?" We don't know yet. We'll have it checked next month, inshaAllah. However, we have a feeling that it might be a boy. It's not just a mere guess, but based on a few observations :D My pregnancy has been smooth so far: rare sickness, rare/no ngidam, etc. Many people say that if that is the case (very smooth and quite comfortable), it is a great chance that the baby is a boy. Also, there is one thing that makes us quite sure that it's a boy, but I don't want to write it here :P Whichever it is, either boy or girl, we feel sooo grateful (Alhamdulillahi Rabbil'alamin), and are looking forward to the arrival of our first baby :) May he/she be born safe, sound, and healthy (Ameen YRA). We can't wait to meet you, sweety! :) :*

source of the picture: http://islam.ru/en/sites/default/files/imagecache/post_img_300_226/img/story/2011/11/pregnent.jpeg.

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When You Love Someone

When you love someone, you pray much more for him than for yourself.

When you love someone, his happiness makes you happy. His smile boosts your mood. Even, it can make your day. No wonder you always do your best for his happiness.

When you love someone, you want that all of his dreams are achieved.

When you love someone, somehow you become more sensitive. Anything small and nice he does to you makes you ecstatic. The opposite usually applies. It's because he is your VIP. His actions and words are important to you.

When you love someone, you bypass his weaknesses. Yes, you might criticise him or give him some advice, but solely to make him a much better and outstanding person.

When you love someone, you want to look good in front of him all the time (it's hard but you keep trying), although it is likely that he wouldn't realise it. You know, men! Typically they don't pay attention to details. He might not realised that you've put a bit make up on or simply brush your hair or put a bit of perfume behind your ears, etc. Regardless you're still doing it. The idea of perhaps he notices it is more than enough to excite you. :)

When you love someone, you ask him things, simple stuff. Have you eaten? How's the traffic today? Do you want a cup of coffee? Are you OK? so on so forth. He might consider you talkative, just because you ask so many questions, but for you it's not a big deal. He might not realise that all the questions arise simply because you care (deeply care in fact) about him, his well-being, his feeling, his comfort.

When you love someone, anything bothers him or makes him sad also saddens you. You keep thinking of what you can do to comfort him or better help solving his problem. All this goes back to the idea of seeing his smile again.

When you love someone, something small can make you jealous (e.g. seeing him kiss his mom but he hasn't kissed you for days). You cannot say such things to him just because you don't want him to think that you're ridiculous.

When you love someone, you want him to be respected. You don't care if people respect you or not. As long as he is respected, it's enough for you.

Ultimately, when you love someone, you want to be together with him again in Jannatul Firdaus. Ameen YRA.


May Allah protect and shower him with abundant rahmah. May Allah also bless our marriage. Ameen. :) <3


Source of the picture above: http://dailynewsdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/swans-in-love-1.jpg
 

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Maintaining Your Beauty

Beauty. When we think of beauty, especially women, our mind might go straight to makeup, fashion, salon, or perhaps aesthetic plastic surgery (I'm totally against the last one!). All these things might help, but the best way to maintain our beauty (yes, maintain.. because every woman is beautiful) is to take care of our health, not only physical but also mental health.

Doing a regular exercise at least three times a week is recommended. It doesn't have to be a hard and exhausting exercise. A simple one that takes only 15-30 minutes but done regularly makes more impact to our body (and mind). If you usually go to work by a motorcycle, a car, or a public transportation, perhaps it's the time to shift to a bicycle! ;) Or if you usually take a lift to go up or down at your office or a shopping center, now is the time to start taking the stairs. In Indonesia, people often use motorcycles to go anywhere, even just to go to a shop that's not even 500 meters away! Let's use our feet, walking is not only healthy but could also be enjoyable (especially if you walk with your friends). I know the temperature is very hot there, but you can always use an umbrella (and sunglasses). :D Regular exercises will make you feel good, light, and fresh! Aren't these going to enhance your beauty? ;)

Besides exercise, our food intake also plays an important role. As I'm talking about beauty, skin beauty is obviously part of it. Weeks ago, I found a few articles discussing the types of foods that are good for your skin. The sources vary, but most of them I found from reading posts on social networking sites. I was trying to look for the sites again, but couldn't find them. So, here I'm just going to list all the foods (and beverages) that I remember. Here they are:

1. Berries, such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and all other berries. They are rich in antioxidants! Not only good for skin, berries are also good to protect your hair. Tip: berries + yogurt = perfect snack :9
2. Avocado. It contains vitamin A and E, and the oil in them is usually used in many beauty products. Did you know that avocado is categorised as a berry? As mentioned earlier, berries are good for skin, so there you go. :)
3. Almonds. They are stuffed with vitamin E, which helps defend against sun damage. Vitamin E is an antioxidant, which is well known as an excellent substance for skin.
4. Salmon. It's rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are able to erase spots and reduce fine lines (wrinkle fighters). Besides salmon, flaxseeds also contain omega-3.
5. Tomatoes. They contain lycopene, which helps eliminate skin-aging free radicals caused by ultraviolet rays. Oh, watermelon also contains lycopene. ;)
6. Sweet potatoes. The vitamin C they have smooths out wrinkles by stimulating the production of collagen.
7. Spinach. They contain folate and iron, which are not only good for skin but also able to reduce the possibility of cancer-cell growth. Actually, all green vegetables are good for your skin as they contain plenty of fiber, loads of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents.
8. Carrots. They are loaded with vitamin A, which is not only good for your eyesight, but also good for reducing blemish on your skin and reducing the development of skin-cancer cells.
9. Green tea. It's known to contain antioxidant with proven anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties.
10. Dark chocolates. (Yay! I love dark chocolates! :D) They have antioxidant that can reduce roughness in the skin and provide sun protection.

 If you want to know more about what other foods that are good for your skin are, you can always google. :D 

So, regular exercise and healthy foods should be our best friends. But on top of that, our beauty will shine brightly if we do these 2 things: let it go (forgive) and smile. :)

"I was smiling yesterday, I am smiling today and I will smile tomorrow simply because life is too short to cry for anything." - Santosh Kalwar -

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." - Thích Nhất Hạnh - 

* .. and the source of other people's joy :)

source of the picture: http://img2.timeinc.net/health/img/web/2013/01/slides/berries-for-heart-400x400.jpg.

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[Poem] Hijab

I read this poem on the Muslim Youth Ireland page on Facebook. I love it so much that I want to share it with you, readers. Dedicated to all sisters. ;)

Hijab
I turn the corner find people looking and staring
Simply because my hair isn’t baring
I wonder why…
I then realise…

Some think I am controlled
Whilst others believe I am uneducated
I wonder why…
I then realise…

These people with these thoughts feel I have no voice
They think being hooded means I have no choice
I wonder why…
I then realise…

People whisper that I am oppressed and rejected
For they do not know I am covered and well respected!
I am not judged by how I look
But the way I speak and my conduct

So while passers by may see me as a reject
I know inside I am perfect

~ anonymous (will be updated once I know the author)

source of the picture above: my private collection, taken at Botanics Garden, Dublin.

 

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It started from a game..

Saturday morning.. have a little headache from last night. Last night I and my friends went to a pub. I was overwhelmed by the crowd at the pub. It was so loud that I couldn't hear my own voice. The ceiling was very low. The pub was so packed full of people. I know what you're thinking. "What am I doing there?" The answer is nothing. I was just curious how the social life of Irish people is. My opinion? Not a fan of it. I prefer a quiet place where I could have a relaxing conversation. OK, maybe my definition of relax is different to Irish's definition. :P

Anyway, at the pub, we had a little game. A friend of mine tried to find his potential wife there. Looking for a wife at a pub didn't sound like a good idea. I knew he was joking (I hoped he was). He asked me to give a score to any woman passing us. The score was from 1 to 10, 1 meant yes (could be potential wife) and 10 meant no (could not). For about 15 minutes we played the game, I gave a lot of 9s or 10s. My reason was simple. A lot of women there put too much make up on, so it didn't look natural at all. Some of them looked scary. I'm sorry to say this but that's my honest opinion. Sometimes, too much make up makes you look older than what you really are. I don't say make up is bad, but for me less is more. That night, it was hard to find a simple and naturally beautiful lady there.

One more thing, some of the dresses they wore were outrageous. As a woman, I felt embarrassed just by looking at them. I'm not going to say further about this. I think you get my point of view.

That night triggers something that has been in my mind for a long time. I heard so many times about the statements saying "Women are not objects", "Stop treating us as objects!", and so on. If you don't want to be treated as objects, don't treat yourselves as ones. It's as simple as that. If your mind focuses too much on how you look, what you're going to wear to 'highlight your feature', which part of your body you need to 'improve', etc, can you really blame others who think of you as objects only? I didn't say you can't look good, not at all. Instead you should make an effort to look nice, but don't try too hard, please have some self respect. 

There's another quote: Don't judge a book by its cover! It's true, and I didn't. Don't get me wrong. You could be a wonderful human being with a big heart behind all the heavy make up and the outrageous outfits. What I'm saying is let all the wonderful things inside you shine without being distracted by any other things that are irrelevant. ;) Don't you want to be loved for who you really are? not for all the accessories you put on. Physical appearance will eventually fade, but a big heart won't.

ps: I didn't intend to offend anyone, just my honest thought. If you feel offended, I apologize, and just close this page as soon as possible. ;)

note: Pubs in Ireland are not like the ones in Indonesia. Here, cafe-like and restaurant-like places, some of them are called pubs.

The picture above I took when I visited the Dublin Botanical Garden.

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