Happy Chinese New Year

Gong xi fatt chai!!!

Today is the 2nd day of Chinese New Year. How have you been?

My relatives are backed and I'm enjoying my holidays! However, they will be leaving tomorrow. Hubby and I will surely feel lonely.

I suggest to hubby that we go KL to shop for baby car seat. Hubby is considering. Let's see whether he will bring me travel for first time after pregnant. Or else both of us will be growing mushroom at home!

I'm thinking of installing a video surveillance at my old home in additional to the existing alarm, there are too many burglary at the neighborhood, even a police's house had been broken in! I will go survey after CNY!

Walgreens Prescription Savings Club

This post brought to you by Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.

It is already Chinese New Year! How is everybody? I bet all will be enjoying your holidays! I am enjoying my holidays too! However for this year, hubby and I won't go outstation for the sack of my precious little one inside my tummy. Thus we are staying back in Ipoh for the whole Chinese New Year holidays until baby is born and confinement finished. Quite prison-like life but I have to bare with it for another 2 - 3 months.

For this Chinese New Year, Walgreens has great offer for Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens.

Walgreens is offering a special discount on annual membership for its Prescription Savings Club: http://www.walgreens.com/pharm… For $10 a year, a family membership covers everyone in your immediate family, including a spouse, dependents 22 and younger and pets. Individuals may join for $5.

Join and receive discount prices on your prescriptions.

Other benefits include:

• Savings on more than 8,000 brand-name and all generic medications
• Discounts on flu shots, pet prescriptions, nebulizers and diabetic supplies
• Bonuses when you purchase Walgreens brand products and photofinishing services

Do come support Walgreens and stay updated by liking Walgreens on Facebook and following Walgreens on Twitter now!

Toxic toiletries

After getting pregnant, I started to search for information on how to be a good mummy. I started to buy baby products bit by bit to avoid burning a big hole in hubby's pocket. Recently, I got to know that even baby products like baby wipes, baby powder, baby shower gel, baby lotion, etc, contain toxic that is harmful to babies.

Even daily toiletries we are using contain toxic - this is something I'm not aware of. Most people don’t realize there are very toxic, cancer causing ingredients in their favorite skincare and beauty products.

I googled and came to a useful page for information about toxic toiletries. With the search engine, I'm able to get a lot of information regarding the daily toxic we are using.

We all want to look great and smell good, but at what cost to our health? Not enough research is being done into the carcinogenic ingredients in the cosmetics and toiletries we use every day. But there are safe alternatives, so spread the word.

Red = carcinogenic, neurotoxic and causes mutation of DNA

Green = probably carcinogenic, or often contaminated with carcinogens, or terms carcinogenic nitrosamimes when mixed with other ingredients.

Blue = skin irritant (note some red and green ones are also irritants)

• Toothpaste - Saccharin, fluoride artificial colours and flavours, propylene glycol (cosmetic form of mineral oil used in industrial antifreeze), PEG ingredients, sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), sodium lauryl ether sulphate (SLES), triclosan (absorption through the skin can lead to liver damage). Remember the quickest way into the bloodstream is through the lining of the mouth!
• Deodorants & Antiperspriants -Formaldehyde (has caused lung cancer in rats and can damage DNA. It is banned in Japan and Sweden), aluminium (links to cancer and Alzheimer´s disease), propylene glycol, fragrance. alcohol, triclosan, parabens.
• Shampoo & Conditioner -Formaldehyde (quaternium). PEG. fragrance (95% of the chemicals in perfume are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum - 26 of which are on an EU hit list), artificial colours, lanolin oil, propylene glycol. BHT. alcohol. isopropanol, paraffin (mineral oil). TEA, MEA, SLS, SLES (these can all lead to potentially carcinogenic cocktails of nitrites and dioxins forming by reading with other ingredients), cocamidopropyl betaine.
• Shaving Products -Propylene glycol. PEG ingredients. DEA, paraffin, "eth" ingredients,TEA, MEA, SLS. SLES, Benzophenone 3, parabens, glycerin.
• Lipstick -Mineral oil. petrolatum. fragrance, lanolin. Butylated hydroxya nisole(BHA). titanium dioxide, padimate-O, polyethylene, polyvinyl pyrro Ii done (PVP) (reports suggest that PVP may cause tumours and that inhaling its particles may be harmful), oxybenzone.
• Shower Gel / Liquid Soaps -Sodium Lauryl Sulfate(SLS), Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate(SLES), proplylene glycol. PEG ingredients. quaternium. alcohol, artificial colours, fragrance, DEA, TEA. MEA, triclosan, parabens, glycerin.
• Foundation - Talc, titanium dioxide, quaternium (formaldehyde). artificial colours, PEG ingredients, propylene glycol (cosmetic form of mineral oil), silica (may be contaminated with cystalline quartz which is carcinogenic). fragrance, diazolidinyl urea, silica ,parabens, glycerin. Foundation is the most dangerous thing in your make-up bag.
• Hair Spray - Fragrance, alcohol, methylene chloride, toluene, ether.
• Hair Dyes - Phenylenediamine (ppd can cause blindness on eye contact), coal tars, hydroxyanisole (affects the female reproductive system). paraffinum Iiquidum (mineral oil), fragrance, quaternium, PEG ingredients. "eth" ingredients, glycerin. Various medical reports have linked prolonged use of hair dyes to bladder cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin´s lymphoma, ovarian cancer and leukaemia.
• Mouthwash - Alcohol (mouthwashes with an alcohol content of more than 2S% have been linked to mouth, tongue and throat cancers), fluoride, PEG ingredients, artificial colours.
• Nail Varnish - Formaldehyde. toluene (methyl benzene. phenyl methane a neurotoxin which can damage the liver, disrupt the endocrine system and cause asthma. Breathing high levels during pregnancy can result in children with birth defects). isopropanol acetone, acetonitrile (forms cyanide when swallowed), ethyl & methyl methacrylate.
• Talc & Baby Powder - Talc (linked to the increase in ovarian cancer. It blocks the pores when used in make-up and is dangerous when inhaled), fragrance. propylene glycol.
  

Note: Phthalates do not appear on ingredients lists, but are toxic chemicals resulting from inhalation and skin exposure to volatile parent ingredients used extensively as solvents and plasticisers fl perfumes, shampoos, hairsprays and nail polishes. Animal studies have shown they can damage the liver, kidneys, lungs and reproductive system.

I was recommended by a friend to join Neways - a company which provides products that minimize people's exposure to potentially harmful ingredients while maximizing their health and beauty.

So I will buy all Neways products for my coming baby and also for ourselves. Have you heard about Neways? What do you think about their products?

The cord is backed in action!

Hubby and I woke up 6am today, prepared ourselves to go Dr. Diva's clinic to wait for a good number! We reached there by 6.45am, thus we got number one! However, the environment there is quite stuffing, I'm sweating while feeling sleepy.

Today, my gynae went for a delivery, so we have to wait even though we got number one. I was in Dr's room on 9.30am.

I brought along the GTT report I did last week, my gynae was pleased with the result. And the total weight gained for the previous 3 weeks is 2kg - okay as well. Others info also shows good. Overall, it is satisfied!

Then, we proceed to scan our baby. We requested to take a photo for our baby, but the baby was naughty to have both her hands crossed and covered her face - no photo again! We also requested to confirm the baby's gender once again, but her leg was crossed as well and covered the part where shows her gender. Heartbeat, placenta, head down - everything shows good! Except that as the page titles shows, the blood cord is around the neck once again!

I was concerned about the blood cord, but my gynae seems doesn't worried about it. He says it's okay since the blood flow shows that the blood cord is loose and only one round. He continued to told us that I can go though natural delivery with the blood cord around the neck - no problem, not to worry. Should I worry?

Chinese New Year 2012

Chinese New Year is around the corner, there is only 4 days left!

However, the market is quiet! We can only feel the Chinese New Year in shopping malls - CNY songs are playing and many people busy shopping for food and clothes. Parking slots are always full in the night time when everybody is free.

Though the shopping malls are packed with people, we still love to join in the crowd! We just walk and see, seldom buy since we have done all our shopping earlier. lol!

As CNY comes, there are a lot of movies for the festival in the cinema. Hubby and I will go cinema tomorrow for Ah Beng The Movie: Three Wishes. And that are more to come, I bet we will be going for another movie later.

This one week holidays for CNY will be the most boring holiday for both hubby and I as I'm pregnant, not allowed to travel. We usually go Kuantan for our CNY holidays, but not for this year! Well, I promise myself for a week holiday to Kuantan after the birth of my baby girl - we will bring along our baby!

I have change my ringtone to CNY song using mobile 17 app! There are a lot of CNY ringtones available in the market nowadays. I chose a classic CNY song! Have you change yours?

My GTT report is out!

During previous visit to my gynae, I'm ordered to do a glucose tolerance test to check whether I'm suffer from gestational diabetes. I optioned not to wait until next visit to Dr. Diva to take the glucose tolerance test. Hubby drove me to his clinic to get the blood test form and we went BPLab the next day for the test.

What is glucose tolerance test?

Most healthcare practitioners routinely recommend a glucose screening test (also called a glucose challenge test or GCT) between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy to check for gestational diabetes, a high blood sugar condition that some women get during pregnancy.

What is gestational diabetes?

Gestational diabetes (or gestational diabetes mellitus, GDM) is a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes exhibit high blood glucose levels during pregnancy (especially during third trimester). It is widely accepted as a disease only in the United States; there is some question whether the condition is natural during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes is caused when the body of a pregnant woman does not secrete enough insulin required during pregnancy, leading to increased blood sugar levels.

Gestational diabetes generally has few symptoms and it is most commonly diagnosed by screening during pregnancy. Diagnostic tests detect inappropriately high levels of glucose in blood samples. Gestational diabetes affects 3-10% of pregnancies, depending on the population studied, so may be a natural phenomenon.

As with diabetes mellitus in pregnancy in general, babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes are typically at increased risk of problems such as being large for gestational age (which may lead to delivery complications), low blood sugar, and jaundice. Gestational diabetes is a treatable condition and women who have adequate control of glucose levels can effectively decrease these risks.

Women with gestational diabetes are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (or, very rarely, latent autoimmune diabetes or Type 1) after pregnancy, as well as having a higher incidence of pre-eclampsia and Caesarean section; their offspring are prone to developing childhood obesity, with type 2 diabetes later in life. Most patients are treated only with diet modification and moderate exercise, but some take antidiabetic drugs, including insulin.

Women treated for gestational diabetes, generally have smaller birthweight babies, leading to other problems, such as survival rate of premature and early births, particularly male babies.

My report is out and I just got it from the lab.

Fasting blood glucose: 70 (Normal: < 100mg/dl)
1 hr PP blood glucose: 119 (Normal: < 200 mg/dl)
2 hr PP blood glucose: 61 (Normal: < 140 mg/dl)

Fasting urine glucose: Negative (Normal: Negative)
1 hr PP urine glucose: Negative (Normal: Negative)
2 hr PP urine glucose: Negative (Normal: Negative)

Haemoglobin (Hb): 12.4g/dl (M 12.5-17.5 F 11.5-15.5)

The report shows I'm not diagnosis with gestational diabetes as stated in the communication textbooks! Hurray!

Skim Amanah Rakyat (Sara) 1Malaysia

Good news for those who is eligible to apply! I'm reading the NST news from my computer desks uk!

THOSE earning RM3,000 and below a month are in for a treat again with the launch of a new savings scheme.

Skim Amanah Rakyat (Sara) 1Malaysia will, for the first time, give an opti-on to those with a monthly household income of RM3,000 and below to exercise options to invest and allow their money to grow in five years.

The government has set aside RM100 million to kick-start the scheme, the first of its kind.

Launching the scheme yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Sara, a hybrid of a unit trust investment and loan product, was capable of generating a consistent cash flow or monthly incentives. It gives an option to the low-income group to pay cash or take up a loan of RM5,000 to participate in the scheme. “The limit is RM5,000 and it can be bought through savings or investment loans from selected financial institutions,” Najib said.

“We guarantee that those who pay cash will get RM134 monthly or RM13,000 after five years.” Those who take up a loan will have to pay the bank RM84 a month and receive cash of RM50 a month, or RM5,000 after five years. He described the scheme as a “historic 1Malaysia product for all”. “If you don’t take the monthly cash, put it back into the scheme. Let your money grow. Those who paid cash will see returns of RM13,000 after five years,” he told thousands of people who had turned up at the Putra World Trade Centre to listen to him on the options available for them to invest. Najib, who is also finance minister, said five years would go by fast and it would allow people to save or use the monthly cash.

“It is up to you. The money goes back into your pockets.” The scheme, under the Ministry of Finance, is managed by Permodalan Nasional Berhad's sister company, Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad.

Application forms are available at Malayan Banking Berhad, CIMB Bank, RHB Bank and Bank Simpanan Nasional.

The forms will be distributed from Jan 30 for 100,000 households on a first-come, first-served basis. Najib said the government had launched various schemes and projects to alleviate the rakyat's burden.