For the record

Have I told you about my 2 kids? I have 2 kids now. They were born 2 years apart. They are 2 much 2 handle sometimes.

Daughter was born at 34 weeks and 1 day. (Star Wars Day baby. Also Audrey Hepburn and Kimora Lee Simmons's birthdays.)
I had an emergency c-section because I had preeclampsia. I still take that PE personally.
She weighed 1.125 kg at birth.
(She had intrauterine growth retardation [IUGR] because of the PE.)
She didn't need any help breathing.
She spent 5 weeks in the NICU gaining weight so that she could be discharged.
Sometimes I think she doesn't eat much because the feeding tube made her lazy :/

Son was born at 40 weeks and 5 days. (Same birthday as Mahathir Mohammed. And Nikola Tesla!)
I had an emergency c-section because my induction of labor failed to progress.
(I was induced at 10 AM on Sunday and went into the OT at around 1 AM on Monday. I spent the whole Sunday pretty much on my back. Boring, 10/10 do not recommend. I didn't even get to try the laughing gas because the epidural worked so well.)
(Dr Tew the surgeon burned off my first keloid scar and made a neat incision over it. Now the scar looks more like a red line!)
He weighed 3.245 kg at birth.
He didn't need any help breathing either, but he also didn't yell the OT down like his big sister did.
We spent 5 days in the postnatal ward because they wanted to monitor his bilirubin levels in case of jaundice.
He eats great.

They both got dexamethasone at 30 or so weeks though, to make sure their lungs matured. Daughter got it because her IUGR had been diagnosed and the doctors took no chances; Son because he was about 1 week behind on one of his scans and the doctor didn't want to take any chances (he continued growing well after that though). Sometimes I wonder if that's the reason they're both so fucking loud.

New life

Just saw that Kilian Jornet and Emilie Fosberg have had their baby! THIS is a child with an athletic pedigree, if there ever was one. I can't imagine the pressure.

I also wanted to make a crack about how a woman shouldn't have to have a marathon labor just because she's the world's premier ultra-runner, but there's no place for it on social media (actually I'm too chicken to have it linked to me, hahah), so I'll just leave it here...

Minefield

Today, I asked Enfant Terrible what I now realise was a loaded question:

"Do you think you and your mum will ever be able to have a normal conversation?"

And he shot back with:

"What makes you think you and your mum have such normal conversations?"

Touché!

I guess what I meant was: is it possible for adult children chat with their mums without becoming agitated? And why is there agitation in the first place?

Stuffed

I spent most of Saturday following a Twitter thread on a nasi kandar jaunt in Penang. I'm not sure if "epic" is the right word for it, but the 5 dudes had 11 (ELEVEN) meals in a single day. I don't know what time they started, but they stumbled back to their accommodation at about 1 AM, stuffed to overflowing with rice, curry, chicken and the all-important (so it seemed) bendi. I may not speak for everyone else following their escapade, but I felt relieved that it had ended, like I'd finished an ultra-race.

I am also now curious about similar food jaunts in Malaysia. Over a weekend, like those nutters, or a week or two? Sweet or savoury? By state or entire east/west/north/south regions? One type of food only? The specialty(s) of a particular ethnic group and state-by-state variations? Or districts? Meats? Vegan/vegan-friendly? Tambah cheese???

... Is there a published food history of Malaysia? Imagine wrestling all that history and culture onto a page. I imagine you'd need half a volume for nasi lemak alone.

For me, I'd do all things pulut. I don't even know where to start.

Instructions

How to get that hotel room smell* in your own room (I know...):

1. Get a cup of coffee with a little milk in it
2. Set the air-conditioning at full blast.
3. Bring the coffee in and let it hang out for a while. You're allowed to sip.
4. Start work.
5. Be transported out of your current surroundings!
6. Realise it's not real and snap out of it, befuddled.
7. Realise what just happened. Carry on.

*Courtesy of suspect hygiene and cleaning practices, and questionable ventilation.