Filling in the gap

Almost 2 years since we updated this blog. Countless events have happened. Both happy and sad. More happy than sad. :)

The result was positive and I had a terrible season of throwing up during the first 5 months of pregnancy. Lost 3kg in the first trimester and was craving Penang food. Some days was just unbearable, drinking water and throwing up water. But thank God, things got better... 

During the last trimester, we found out that my amniotic fluid was very low, almost to the critical level. I had to drink 3 litres of water everyday. I tried... had lots of coconut water too. We prayed. The ladies group prayed for us. The amniotic fluid maintained. We did not have to go through an early birth. Because of the low fluid, the baby did not have enough space to turn around. It was going to be a c-sec birth because the baby was in breach position (tho I really wanted to try natural birth). The hubs was afraid of any danger and was in agreement for a c-sec.

In the 2 weeks of pregnancy, I developed PUPPP (Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy) - very itchy skin and rashes on my legs, butt and abdomen... gosh it was really unbearable. To the extent I couldn't sleep at night and only felt better when taking a very warm bath.

On 3 November 2012,  this cute pretty little girl was born at 38 weeks of pregnancy via c-sec by Dr. Nguyen Huu Trung and the little girl's daddy. Mummy was waiting to hold daddy's hands during the operation but daddy as a surgeon himself was more interested to watch how you were coming out! (Well, to his defense, i think I would too).

Nguyen Kim Ly Kimberly

All the pregnancy stress was over..... my skin got better.... and we just kept staring at you all day....

We will be back on this blog!

My darling girl turned 1 exactly one month ago... It's time! It's time for mummy to blog again!

My second 2ww

It's been a while since I last wrote again. New Year's have passed.. Had a trip back to Penang for Chinese New Year. Then came Valentines day and now my second 2 week wait... My first 2ww happened last July with 4 good embryos implanted and I did get pregnant with BFP on 9DPT. But unfortunately it did not last too long...

Now we are back on track after 2 unsuccessful Progynova series. On the third round, my body reacted well to the hormone pills. My endometrium lining was already 9mm after 5 days of taking Progynova and I did not have to increase the dosage. It was 8mg a day from the beginning until today.

Yesterday was the day... 4 good embryos was implanted into my womb. So now we wait...

While waiting.. what shall I do so that I don't rot at home...

2 weeks in Hanoi

This has been my longest trip back in Hanoi since I moved to Saigon. And it's winter time! The weather was perfect... Not too cold yet. I have always liked living in Hanoi and thought I would prefer Hanoi to Saigon but the truth is I have never truly 'lived' in Hanoi. It has always been about 'work'. Weekends was very often spent at the office. Friends consist of mainly colleagues. Housemates were colleagues. Conversations were always about work and office. Well, I guess now my preference has changed.

I had a good time to myself since the hubby is busy completing his thesis and meeting professors after professors. I spent my time going to yoga & pilates every other day. Did some acupunture sessions with Ms. Thuy at Yakushi Center. Had 2 good massages there as well. Very good business there.. Had 6 hair washes at different salons ranging from 50k-150k.. just trying to experiment their services and to my disappointment the cheapest salon actually gave me the best service! and she looked surprised when I tried to tip her. Well, apparently people do not tip so much in Hanoi as compared to Saigon.  Watched a French movie at Vincom and has countless number of hot lattes... feels so good to have a warm coffee in my hands during winter..

Had a great time on Christmas eve touring Hanoi with some ex-colleagues as if we are tourists... Visited the places I have brought visitors who came to visit me...went to the Temple of Literature and met the 3 Ly Kings (statue of cos), Saint Joseph Cathedral and saw beautiful Christmas story carved on the walls, had a delicious meal at the famous Bun Cha Hang Manh, told the story of the returned sword again at Hoan Kiem lake, had coffee while overlooking the beautiful lake, and typical hotpot at Truc Back lake like a Vietnamese on the floor.

Some changes since two years back:
- Airport taxis charges almost double. Used to pay VND160k, now it's VND315k... wah lau...
- The hairdresser & waxist at my regular salon (Hair Workshop at Hanoi Tower) has left to open their own shops now.. and Hair Workshop looks totally revamped
- My favourite pho stall has turned into a hair salon
- Xe om to Tay Ho now costs double as well...
- Hoan Kiem lake looks cleaner now after a cleanup by the goverment




Best view of Hoan Kiem Lake

   



Thien Quang Lake

 



Walls at St. Joseph's Cathedral (can u see my name??)

  

Postcrossing

There is something magical about receiving mails that comes with stamps...

Vietnam hospitals

I was ranting about my hospital experiences recently. The stories that I hear from my husbands and his doctor friends are true.

There has been many articles about it recently on vietnamnet.vn.

About the 'super-fast one minute medical examinations' given by doctors, causing doctors to rely on machine generated diagnosis which can be inaccurate!
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/special-report/16180/super-fast-medical-examination--one-minute-per-patient-.html
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/special-report/16272/super-fast-medical-examination--patients-suffer-the-consequences.html

About the mystery 'envelopes' that patients have to give to the doctors and nurses to receive better care (and not necessary proper care):
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/special-report/15730/-envelope--and-medical-ethics.html

Vietnam hospitals are EXTREMELY crowded:
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/vietnam-in-photos/12236/vietnamese-hospitals-extremely-overloaded.html

Patients wait for hoursss to see the doctor for a minute. They have questions but daren't ask. Those who did ask never got their complete answers. They leave with a list of prescriptions not knowing whey they need them for. Are they being naive? They are never given an opportunity to understand their disease. Whatever the doctor says has to be right. Patients don't get to make any decisions.

Doctors see an aversge of a hundred patients each day. Their monthly salary can be comparable to a maid's salary. They have no motivation to work. Is it ethical for them to receive those 'envelopes' from patients? You tell me. I don't really know anymore. Can you feed your family with a salary of USD150? Yea, u might think poor families do it all the time... Would you ever imagine a doctor as one of those poor families?

This situation in Vietnam can be so complicated that I wonder how the government can clean it up... It saddens me to read about it and am very grateful that I have an option to get better treatment at a private hospital (though not as proper as back home in Malaysia). But yet, it is still lacking at private hospitals.

I pray that one day my other half will fulfil his dream to initiate a proper hospital in this country for his people.

Postcrossing

Despite the disappointment yesterday, I did have a happy moment when I got home.

I received my first Postcrossing stamp from Netherlands!

If you've never heard of Postcrossing, checkout it out! - 'send a postcard and receive a postcard back from a random person somewhere in the world'.

It has been fun sending and receiving postcards from a random person in a random country. I'm a stamp lover. I haven't been actively collecting since highschool. Now postcrossing has reactivated my interest.

Just last October, Post Netherlands launched a real stamp featuring Postcrossing and I am delighted to receive one so soon from someone random in Netherlands! It made my day! :)

I also received a postcard from Russia with these beautiful stamps just a few days ago...