Platypus to the rescue!

Half-filled on the left, rolled-up on the right

Finally got my Platys yesterday. Ordered them through Li, my eco-friendly products supplier turned friend (do check out her cool website).

For as long as I can remember, I've been re-using those PET soft drink bottles to store my drinking water for school and now work. Even after reading all those emails about how we shouldn't re-use them as repeated washing will cause the chemicals to break down and leach into our drinking water, which by the way is unfounded according to some research I did. I guess they've always been the convenient option since they're light (as opposed to glass bottles), dispense water easily (like pour straight into the mouth) and do not leak.

So yeah, I suppose you could say this was an unnecessary purchase but I love the fact that they're collapsible hence can even pop them into my handbag and tote one around. Also, they're 100% BPA (Bisphenol A)-free and can last for years, according to Li.

Flower Power

A few weeks back I had the fortune of getting acquainted with Josephine who works a few doors away from my office and who introduced me to Phytobiophysics, the science of harnessing the vibration energy of plants to release energy blocks in the human body so that balance is re-established for all levels of consciousness; spiritual, mental, emotional and physical. It is believed that stress, disease and viruses also vibrate at different frequencies that bring disturbance to the healthy, balanced life flows within the body.

A load of mumbo-jumbo? I couldn't agree more at the time. But since Josephine insisted her husband's eczema visibly cleared up within a month of taking the herbal formulas, no harm trying, I thought. Not to worry folks, I'm not going barmy just yet.

Hubby and I brought Nat to see Dr Yeap when we were back in Ipoh over the weekend. Her method of diagnosis was unconventional to say the least. She would form a circuit with the patient and ask him/her to resist her downward pushing motion on his/her outstretched left arm. I ended up acting as the "lever" for Nat and Hubby (a few occasions) and by the end of it, my shoulder was positively aching.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that we were completely sold on the "science" but Dr Yeap handled our questions so well that Hubby and I did end up asking for a consultation as well. We alternated between being skeptical and hopeful of the benefits of the "flower vibrations". Conceptually, Phytobiophysics is as abstract as Reiki but the antidotes are akin to a combination of Homeopathy and Bach Flower Essences. As with most alternative medicines, you can't help but attribute its efficacy to a placebo effect. So as I was telling Hubby, if Nat's eczema really does clear up, we'll know it's for real. After all, you can hardly expect a toddler to be psychologically affected by a sugar pill that she doesn't even know has been dissolved into her drinking water.

In addition to taking the pills, I have to give up quite a lot of foods as apparently I currently don't have the right enzymes to digest them hence they create an energy block within which manifests in the eczema and lower lumbar pain that I have. So just as Eileen urged me to go on a restrictive diet for Nat's sake, I was told by Dr Yeap to give up wheat (or anything with gluten), eggs, soy (that means soy sauce too!), dairy products, beef, lamb and duck for the timebeing till my imbalances are corrected.

It's been three days and I still can't think of anything convenient to eat for breakfast. No eggs, bread, cakes, biscuits, noodles, cereal or milk.... How long will I survive?

Vision restored

Underwent Lasik surgery last Friday. Hubby was wonderfully supportive. He even accompanied me into the OT. Said it was scarier than my C-section.

Not that I needed someone to lend me courage. I was surprisingly calm and the only time I panicked a little was when I lost my vision for a few seconds as the machine sucked up the cornea tissue before Dr Yeoh created the flap.

The rest of the evening I felt as if I was in a room with a thousand cut onions. Was tearing the whole night and good thing I was given a dose of Stilnox.

The next morning, I could already see quite clearly and the discomfort was more or less gone. I looked fine save for a few burst capillaries (Val says I look like Darth Maul but pointed out to her that it was his pupils that were red and not the surrounding area). Really hope this will clear up by the time we go to Chiang Mai or else I won't look very nice in the family photos. As it is, I'm now having to tell everyone it's NOT conjunctivitis!

Apart from wearing eye shields at night for the past five nights (oh, I hate them so!), I've also had to put 2 kinds of eye drops. One is an antibiotic while the other is an anti-inflammatory.

Bug-eye-boo

I'm glad I chose to have it done at Advance Vision. The whole experience was great. Staff were pleasant and not pushy and Dr Yeoh is a very experienced in this field, having trained under world-reknowned surgeons and worked for 10 years in Ireland. It was when, during my first check-up, he took the time to chat with me and answer all my questions that I was sold on doing it here. What's more, it's his own business so he calls the shots and is not a puppet acting on behalf of investors. Although I went for the microkeratome (i.e. mechanical blade) and not the intralase procedure, I was comforted by the fact that this model of machine has been in use for years with a very high success rate. After all, it's track record, not latest technology, that you want.

I've been wearing glasses for 17 years and contact lenses for 16 years so I forget how it feels not to be myopic. Now everytime I wake up (which is like 5 times a day - once in the morning and at least 4 times at night), I'm like "Darn, did I forget to remove my lenses again?".

I can see clearly now the rain is gone...

A recent email to a friend

Have not had any time to write new entries so here's an excerpt from one of the more recent emails I've written just to update my blog a bit.

Hi H,

I know exactly what u mean about your daily achievements revolving around how much you yield from your pumping sessions. Mine have been even less successful than yours but with the night pumping sessions in between feeds, I somehow miraculously have just enough to meet her daily needs when I'm at work. Granted, I do supplement on the odd day when she's unusually hungry or if I'm out longer than expected and didn't prepare an extra bottle of EBM.

Knowing that she's growing from consuming only mostly my milk, it's just so worth the effort. However my supply appears to have plateaued so I'm not sure how long more I can continue to exclusively breastfeed. I'm trying to stock up my freezer but can only put aside an extra bottle or two per week.

I've tried every natural breastmilk-supply remedy that I've heard of including consuming turmeric juice, baby shark, steamed fish, papaya soup, fenugreek, milkmaid tea, groundnut soup & blackbean soup, peanut butter, milk and oats but I can't say for sure if any of them really work. At the moment I boil papaya soup with elephants' ears, ginger, fish and groundnuts twice weekly and also just started drinking an infusion of fenugreek & fennel a few times daily. If there's any improvement at all, I'm not even sure if it's real or merely psychological.

Oh yes, a friend of mine says she finds eating lots of celery & having sex boosts her supply plenty but i've not tried that myself (where she found the time & energy for that is beyond me). I also read somewhere that dried oyster soup does the trick (boil it like ikan bilis soup). The Malays believe that pegaga (alfalfa?) juice also works.

I'm sure you know that you should not stop the nighttime feeds in order for your breastmilk supply to continue and also to nurse exclusively during the weekends right? Have you also tried breast massage before nursing or pumping & lying while feeding at night so as to get more rest? The latter doesn't work for me though. I still prefer sitting up to nurse as I have to burp Nat after each feeding or she'll regurgitate.

At the end of the day, if you've tried all the above & your supply is still dwindling, be proud that you've succeeded in giving your son the best for almost 6 mths. That's what I keep telling myself & it's a lot more than most mothers can admit to doing. I presume you'll be starting him on semi-solids soon?

Exclusive breastfeeding is no easy feat and there are also hazards that come with it as I recently found out. You see, I've been having this chronic pain in my right wrist for almost 6 weeks and 3 weeks ago, it turned up on my left wrist too. It turns out that I have de Quervain's tendonitis, a syndrome akin to carpal tunnel and not uncommon in breastfeeding mothers. It's an inflammation of the tendon that causes pain when I flex my wrist and extend my thumb and especially hurts when I carry Nat by picking her up under her arms. The change in our hormones during pregnancy cause us to have lax muscles so that's why there's a tendency for mothers to have it if we carry our newborns too much.

I kept putting off going to see the doctor in hopes that either the pain would go away (read that it sometimes does) or I would get used to it but the tendons just got more aggravated. The pain was so debilitating that I couldn't write properly, grasp things or unhook my bra without wincing. Then it dawned upon me that Natalie was not getting any lighter and if I was to pay for treatment, I might as well seek it now. I finally went to an orthopaedic today and got a jab in each of the wrists. Hurt like hell (nothing compared to the doctor's bill though) but the pain has subsided somewhat. Also have to wear a splint on both hands and rest them a lot for at least 6 weeks.

Nat also has mild eczema and i was so sad when the doc told me coz i also have eczema and can emphathise with her. That was one of the reasons i was so dead set on breastfeeding and after all that trying, she still got it. She only has it on her face for now but I'm afraid it will affect other parts of her body too. Sometimes she uses her mitten-ed hands to scrub her face and it becomes reddish. The doc gave me some cream but i'm not using it as it contains steroids. i've been using steroid creams and they thin the skin. Much too strong for a baby. Trying out some eczema remedy products from buds baby (a local company. check out http://www.budsbaby.com/. however, the eczema products are new so not on the site yet) as they contain mild and natural ingredients. So far the moisturiser works well to keep the patches hydrated so she doesn't itch so much. If u want, I can buy and send to you for you to try. Hope your son's eczema heals soon. Take care!

Will this straw break the camel's back?

Monday night and I was putting out my work clothes for the next morning as I usually do. Decided to try on my jeans (yes, I dress down at work) and HORROR OF HORRORS!!! Couldn't get it buttoned! Calm down... maybe it shrunk in the dryer. Put on another pair and OHMIGOSH!! I couldn't button it either!

When did this happen?!! I swear I wore them only a few weeks ago. Yes, they were a bit tight then but I never imagined this day would come so soon! Stepped on the scale and I'm only less than 2kgs short of my weight in early 2004 before I lost weight for the wedding. All that hard work and determination down the drain....

Sat down (and couldn't help but notice that my spare tyre is on the verge of doubling! SOB!!) and thought about it and came to the conclusion that it's the increase of sugar in my diet (from all the cakes I've been baking plus the CNY goodies) that has added to my girth. Doesn't help when your colleague bakes fantastic cookies either!

Hubby mentioned to his mum the next day that I've become fatter and she agreed as well! In a way, that's a good thing 'coz she will understand if I don't eat as much as I normally do when we go for meals at their house.

This calls for desperate measures. The eating binge has gone on for far too long (since November) and the workouts have been taking a backseat. Gonna go back on my low-carb diet and hopefully shed of some of these before my study stress begins again in March. Been going to the gym every morning except today (going after work later). The big question is.... how long can I keep this up? There's no longer the motivation to look good on my wedding day.

Hmm.... now that's a thought... You think hubby would want to get married all over again?

I have a cup!

My mooncup was delivered to me today. Yay!! Thanks Li! Have to go home and sterilise it first. Can't wait to use it.

It's strange but none of my friends abroad have heard of it, even those in the US and UK. Makes one think "Why don't they promote it more?". Unless... it doesn't work as well as it's supposed to. Won't know until you try, right? And if it works, I can say bye to spending loads of $$ on disposables from now on. Moreover, it's safer for our bodies since you're not inserting anything made of bleached cotton fibre. No risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome.

Mooncup - Made in Brighton UK of surgical silicone


Holds 30ml of fluid


Gee... looks awfully big


Menstrual cup and cloth panty liner... tools for an environment-friendly cycle

Menstrual cups now in Malaysia!

To all my girlfriends, I urge you to check out Femchoices.

You can purchase the Mooncup at their online store. Am getting one myself and can't wait to use it!

Malaysia to Earth

Anyone have an idea when Earth Shoes will be available in Malaysia? If not, is it in Singapore yet?

In the beginning... there was no fat...

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

Then using God's great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and Krispy Crème Donuts.And Satan said, 'You want chocolate with that'? And Man said, 'Yes! Then Woman said, 'And as long as you're at it, add some sprinkles'. And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan smiled.

Then God created healthful yogurt so Woman might keep the figure that Man found so fair. And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat, and sugar from the cane and combined them. And Woman went from size 6 to size 14.

So God said,'Try my fresh green salad. And Satan presented Thousand-Island Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side.And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.

God then said, 'I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them.' And Satan brought forth deep fried fish and
chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained more weight and his cholesterol went through the roof.

God then created a light, fluffy white cake, named it 'Angel Food Cake', and said, 'It is good'. Satan then created chocolate cake and named it 'Devil's Food'.

God then brought forth running shoes so that His children might lose those extra pounds. And Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels.And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering blue light and gained pounds.

Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried them. And Man gained pounds.

God then gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite. And Satan created McDonald's and its 99-cent double cheeseburger.Then said,'You want fries with that'? And Man replied, 'Yes'! 'And super size them'!

And Satan said,'It is good'. And Man went into cardiac arrest.God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.Then Satan created HMOs.

Thought for the day:
There is more money being spent on breast implants and Viagra today than on Alzheimer's research.This means that by 2040, there should be a large elderly population with perky boobs and huge erections and absolutely no recollection of what to do with them.