Cikelin Chronicle

Aussie has special day for almost everything. Here we have Father's Day, Library Lover's Day, Red Nose Day, National Tree Day, Daffodil Day, Sorry Day, etc. Today is a Jeans Day . You are expected to wear jeans to school or work and gives small donation, say $1. The money goes to charity. Unfortunately, I can't fit in my old jeans, yet. *sigh* A.K. Me in my jeans, 2006  

I don't know how she does it. Aussie Mom I mean, juggling between the baby and household chores, all by herself (no pembantu, no granny and no 'busybody' neighbours). In the first two weeks having Ayesha, I felt helpless. It's like I threw all my energy for her and nothing left for myself and the house. It's more looked like a shipwreck than a house. Yes, I have a wonderful husband, he's so helpful, changing nappies and all, but still... Not that Ayesha cried all the time, but we needed to carry her if she started crying. She didn't like to be left alone in the cot, even when she just finished her milk and had a dry, clean bottom. Sometime Nino put her on his lap while he worked on his laptop. Sometime I carried her with "Jarik". That's how my Mom would do to settle the baby. It seemed normal to be tired carrying the baby. But I thought, if only there was a way... I found the answer when I paid a visit to my neighbour. She's a Balinese who...

It's been 40 days since that heart stopping moment, but I can still recount it. Although we were alone here, no Mom, relatives and other "busy bodies", I felt super confident that I could do just right with my second pregnancy. I thought been there, done that. Besides, everyone (and the book) said that delivering the second child would be easier that the first one. Unfortunately, in my case, it wasn't that easy. I started having my real contraction early Friday morning. I thought the time has came. So I packed my bag and got ready to the hospital. I rang the hospital between my every-five-minute contraction, but the midwife said that I had to wait until I had the strong, painful one. I waited the whole day. I managed to eat, sleep and have shower between that. Nino stayed beside me and was very helpful. At 8 pm, I could wait no more. Nino rang the hospital and they let me come. We requested an ambulance. It sound dramatic, but it's only because we didn't own a...