I've had the opportunity to sort some of our old clothes and put aside the ones that are to be given away. Some are in no condition to be worn again, but not too bad to be used for other purposes. These are in a special pile waiting for my "treatment", they will be given a "new look". All I need to do now is to find the time between other things to sit in my special room and get to work!

Feeling the love

Yes, it's that time of the year again, birthday. I feel so blessed that not only do I have my loved ones with me on this extra special day, I have all other family and friends remembering, praying for me and wishing me the best too! It makes me feel that everyday from now on is special because of all the love and prayers showered by them.

I need to constantly remind myself that with every waking moment I have from now on, I need to extend the same love and prayers to everyone I know and to pray for those around me and those in need, to give what I can and how I can, whenever I can. Life is about sharing, caring and giving, not just receiving.

So thank you again to everyone for the special wishes and prayers. You have made me realise again how precious this life is and how we must always make the time we have in this life to make others feel the love too. May Allah bless us all in our worthy efforts to fulfill our journey in this life and the hereafter.

The world through M's eyes....

It's that time of the year again for our dear M...follow-up eye examination. He doesn't like it and we dread having to get him through it. But it is absolutely necessary for him and for us, it is another step towards trying to understand how his vision works, because it is obviously not like ours.

Due to his extreme prematurity (28 weeks), his vision had developed in a rather different way than would a "normal" baby. He has been diagnosed with amblyopia and nystagmus, which are actually symptoms of a more serious underlying vision problem. We are trying hard to find out how much he is seeing, what he is seeing and how he is seeing. I hope this time, unlike the previous exam, he is able to "communicate" better on "what" he is seeing and not be too upset with the repeated dilation of his pupils and actual exam. It took three adults to restrain him for the half hour exam and boy, he didn't like it!

Pain of Motherhood

No, this is not about emotional or mental pain, but actual, physical pain. Many of us go through life experiencing some sort of pain, be it naturally or induced. I haven't been spared either. I’ve always been told by medical and non-medical persons alike that perhaps my pain threshold was much higher than others…maybe. After 8 pregnancies, 3 natural childbirths, 3 miscarriages, 2 Caesarean sections, the many months (in total) of hospitalisation and 5 lovely children later in 13 years, I tended to believe it.

Just by being allergic to aspirin and unable to take high doses of paracetamol means that I cannot randomly take them without suffering some adverse side-effect(s). Post-caesarean section surgery meant also that I had to take the lowest dose possible of oral pain-killers instead of the recommended 3 doses of morphine usually given. Yes, it was a lot of pain to endure and Alhamdulillah, I managed.

Let’s not go into the pain management issues. I’ve too many stories to tell! But then I endured a pain that I could not understand, though still bear, could not pin-point, but persisted for months. It was a numbing sort of pain, originating from my lower back, along the spinal column, gravitating towards the shoulder blades and leading to stiffness along the neck and numbness along the arms.

I was alarmed. It hindered my normal mobility somewhat. It made me experience soreness and headaches and made me lose a lot of muscle strength. What was worse, I had to really strain to carry around my 14 month old baby! I think the turning point was when I felt so bad that I couldn’t even turn my head sideways, not to mention the constant and persistent headaches!

I was practically stumbling around trying to tolerate the pain for weeks, going through everyday routine of chauffeuring my kids around on top of the regular housework. I went to see different GPs twice but all they could give me were more pain-killers. I took nothing to ease the pain, firstly because I was concerned with the side-effect, and secondly because I was still breastfeeding my baby. I then decided to try something else. I went to a chiropractor, although at that time I was a little skeptical. At the same time I searched online for something, a product for long-term use as a means of supporting my structure, particularly my lower back.

At the chiropractor’s, I was diagnosed as having idiopathic scoliosis along the upper vertebrae and a few rotated vertebrae along the lower column. The one thing I can remember was the chiropractor saying, “No wonder you were in a lot of pain!” Treatment included but not limited to, spinal correction (through various tools at the chiropractor’s clinic), stretching and traction as well as more stretching exercises, the use of Epsom salt and warm compressors at home. I definitely felt much better but not completely. I still had many more follow-ups to go to, but due to time constraints, I decided to discontinue going to the chiropractor. The chiropractor did, however, caution me to be careful with my posture and the way I lifted things and my baby, because it could pose more damage. Then I decided that I had to use some form of support. It became crucial that I would not make any sudden movement that would land me in pain, again. That’s when I turned to this product, the Premium Beautiful set.

I discovered it when I was surfing the net and although a few of my friends were already using it, I didn't actually get around to talking to them about it. I decided then to find out more and thankfully, Alhamdulillah, I had someone respond to my “call for help”. She was helpful and assured me that I could try the product and feel the difference myself.

Suffice to say that I’ve been using the product for almost a month now and I definitely feel the difference, a marked improvement in my overall condition. I no longer feel the strain when I’m lifting my baby (and even my nearly 3-year old!), I can feel the support it gives to my lower back and posture and I definitely feel that it has given me a new overall perspective on “pain management”. I should not have tolerated that much pain for that long, it was just not natural! Alhamdulillah and InshaAllah, I will be able to use this product anytime, anywhere and for as long as I desire. It has improved my quality of life especially in relation to my overall mobility and posture. My back is pain- free! Not to mention it has done wonders for my “wobbly bits” and doesn't interfere with breastfeeding too!

 I’m particularly happy with how the Premium Beautiful set has helped me and I can’t wait to share this with family and friends. Sharing is caring. Now I know I need to take care of myself too, not just of my loved ones. Thank you Salha Mohd Zain and Zatilfarihiah Rasdi. I hope to share your enthusiasm about the Premium Beautiful….

Tongue-tied too?

My son will be turning 3 in April. I'm quite concerned that I still cannot fully understand all the words he's trying to say. I know he's trying hard, so I'm wondering if it's timely and worthwhile getting him checked-out by a speech therapist. Has anyone has had any experiences going to a speech therapist in and around KL/Selangor and what to expect while there? Any advice and recommendations welcomed!


I'm aware that tongue-tie could lead to speech issues later on in a child's development. Could it also be a genetic predisposition? I realised too that I may have some speech issues, though they're not too obvious; a slight lisp and even a slight difficulty in pronouncing certain words. Could I be "tongue-tied" too?

#ChurpChurp 's top 30 influencers brought home a total of over RM120K the past year! Join them!

#ChurpChurp 's top 30 influencers brought home a total of over RM120K the past year! Join them!

The3Rs

I've been procrastinating. It's been a while since my last update, not because I haven't anything to update about, mostly because I've been very lopsided in my time-management.

I owe it to myself to start off on things I do to recycle, and here are some of the things that we (myself and kids) try to do. It's a fun activity but needs some guidance and supervision. It's a great way of putting creativity and recycling together. 

Home-made denim pencil case

One of my daughters is our designated designer. She comes-up with wonderful designs, sketches them and helps to create different styles for different items. One talented gal!

Hand-made rosette brooches

My other daughter is wonderful at sourcing for materials and putting together the designs. She actually has very deft fingers and is quite good at hand-stitching. The products seen are mostly done by my girls and we complement each other by putting together finishing touches (embellishment and for quality control aspects). 

I have more projects to do and more ideas to execute, however, time is always a constraint. But in a lot of ways I am extremely lucky, I have children who are very talented to begin with and are willing helpers! And I'm not the one who does the photo-taking either....

We can basically make use of most materials that come our way. We have quite a stash right now and lots of ideas. We are now waiting for the opportunity to put our ideas together to create more "stuff"!

Stay tuned!!! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!!!