The arrival of our baby girl- Nina Helena

The day of our baby girl finally came on 28th April 2017. Baby Nina Helena was born naturally weighing 3.07kg in Mater Dei Hospital at 11.25am. I am writing this on the blog so that I would never forget the experience of delivering abroad in Italy.

We went to see our gynae- Dr Nico Naumann the day before on Thursday, 27th April. He examined me and told me that the cervix is still hard and we would have to wait a while before the baby comes out. I was already at week 39 and the coming Monday I would be on week 39. I have been doing a lot of reading and knows that at week 39 baby would be in full term and is safe to be delivered.

 We went home, and I keep on reading  on how to make the baby come out faster as my worry is only ONE. The longer the baby is in the womb, the heavier it will be and increases the risk of C-section (which  I really want to avoid at all costs).

The next morning, as I am texting my siblings I realised I had contractions... this was around 5am in the morning. Then the contractions became heavier and I had to woke up hubby at 6am who is asleep to tell him that I am having contractions. He then helped me to time the contractions. We called Dr Nico at 7.30am to inform him and he said to update him again at 8.30am. After that, I can no longer tolerate the pain and I told my husband we need to go to the hospital. So we packed up and went off to the hospital slightly before 9.00am.

We arrived at the hospital at 9.30am and was admitted immediately. The mid-wife examined me and told me that I have dilated about 1cm and not yet ready to go for labour. Honestly, I was in pain! Since we have already planned to take epidural, I immediately requested for an anesthetic to assist me.

The epidural only came at 10.30 am and it took another 10-15mins for the effects to kick in. I was literally screaming and crying enduring the contraction pain. At that time I am already 7cm dilated so at 11.05am I was send to the delivery room. I had to go alone as we Norman was with us and baby was not allowed in delivery so hubby had to stay with him in our room.

Honestly, it was a quick delivery according to my husband. The baby was deliver at 11.25am and then I am back to my room. But for me, it felt forever!! This time I can feel the pain as the epidural did not numb me entirely like my first delivery in Ipoh Specialist Hospital. So, I was trembling at the end after the baby came out.

She cried when she came out and she was perfect! I was so tired that I passed out while the mid wife was stitching me up. It was only a couple of stitches so the recovery process will be faster.
We stayed in the hospital for 3 nights but it was very relaxing for me. Baby was kept in the nursery while I was just recovering in my room- sleeping most of the time.

Norman Harris admitted into Rome hospital

Mother's worst nightmare is when your child is admitted into hospital.

It was during our hols in London that he caught a virus. He was down with fever on Saturday 18th Feb. The fever did not subside until we went back to London on Monday 20th Feb. Subsequently on Tuesday, he got some rash starting from his face until his body. On Wednesday we went to see his pediatrician and Dr Paula advised us to go to the Emergency Unit in Policlinico Hospital.

We were informed that Norman needs to admitted immediately into the Infectious Unit on that Wednesday as they need to do further test on him. The initial prognosis was measles but they had to do blood test to confirm further.

Norman being sick was difficult for us as he will be very clingy and demanding. He refuse to sit in the baby cot or even put down. We had to hold him all the time. Being pregnant this was tiring me off. So, hubby had to take leave from work and help out to take care of him. For me, being in Rome means we have to rely on each other. There is no family support or immediate help available. Hubby agreed to stay overnight in the ward with Norman whilst I sleep at home. The good thing is the hospital is just one metro station away from our house. Bologna to Policlinico station is merely 10 mins away.

The next day, the blood tests showed negative for measles and rubella. That means we have to stay in the hospital for further blood test. Norman no longer has fever, but he still has running nose and diarrhea. A part of me feels a bit glad as he is warded so that there is help available from the doctors or nurses if needed. The IV drip makes him really weak and he refuse to eat. He only ate banana which I think the easiest food for him to swallow.

On Friday, 24th Feb as I was walking towards the Bologna metro station I tripped myself and fell down. I was rushing to the hospital to see Norman and hubby so that was clearly my mistake. I should have been more careful! As soon as I arrived to hospital I suddenly realised I don't fee any movement from my baby so I broke down and cry. I'm so worried as I don't know whether the baby is ok or not. I immediately went to the Gynae Emergency Unit to get myself checked.

I had to be rushed in an ambulance! Mind you I have never ride in an ambulance before so that was my first time. The emergency unit was very good considering I only requested them to check my baby's heart beat. They did a lot more tests including 3D scan and EKG of baby and me. I am so glad that the baby is safe. I guess the stress was getting to me...more than I realised. The stress of having my son admitted into the hospital was overwhelming that it was affecting my own health and pregnancy.

Finally, Norman is recovering. He no longer has diarrhea and fever. He started to eat more but doctor is still unsure what type of virus he had. So we were advised to stay in the hospital until Monday. However, on Sunday morning the doctor checked him again and told us that he is well enough and can be discharged. What a great relief to us! We can all rest and recover at home.

It is an experience to have Norman warded in the Rome hospital. I realised more than ever that I want to be back home in Malaysia. Eventhough the service in the hospital was good but I would prefer to be surrounded by a familiar environment back home. But this was definitely an experience for a lifetime that I hope would not be repeated.

Pregnant in Rome

It has been a while since I updated this blog. Anyway, I thought I'd write a few things about my pregnancy as a diary to monitor myself and the baby. I am already at my 28-week of pregnancy. The latest doctor appointment last Friday shows that both baby and me are doing well. We did a detailed anatomy scan last month and everything is normal in relation to the baby's heart, brain, bladder, etc. So that is a very good news!

For me, I have gained 9.5kg so far. My current weight is 73.5kg. Baby's weight is 1.1kg (so I am adding 8kg to myself) I am concerned with weight gain during pregnancy as my first pregnancy I gained a whopping 21kg and Norman was only 3.4kg. It took me 9 months to get back to my pre-pregnancy figure. Considering my age, it is also more difficult to gain back the pregnancy weight.

Overall, so far so good in terms of pregnancy. I am really excited as we will be getting a baby girl! Too excited that we already bought her first shoes. Too cute!

La Ghiotteria- Pisa

Pisa is famous for it's Leaning Tower and Field of Miracles. I have been there twice before and this time we are bringing my husband's father and sister. We took a train from Florence and then another 10-minutes ride in a taxi. They didn't want to climb up Pisa so we went straight for dinner at this restaurant La Ghioterria.

This place is a hidden gem. Good food and at a really good price. A plate of pasta will only costs you Euro10 or even less (depending on what you order). The total costs for us was Euro 44, which my father-in-law kept the receipt as he said he can't believe how cheap it was. 

Field of Miracles, Pisa

Spaghetti seafood with tonnes of mussels

SIL with here ravioli and truffles

My ravioli with ricotta and spinach, so yummy!

Venice

Our next travel destination is Venice. Initially the plan was to rent a car and drive up north. However, we had to cancel that plan as the car rental was expensive over summer. It's better for us to take train to Venice which is only 3-hour ride. As you all know, travelling with a baby is always challenging. So we book train tickets with stroller option next to seat. This would be easy for me to breastfeed later as well. Moving on to Venice.

It is beautiful! But yes it is overrated as there are many other beautiful destinations in the world such as London and Paris. Bear in mind, anything in Venice is expensive. A cup of cappuccino will costs Euro8 if you decide to drink it in St.Marks square. We even got conned during dinner to pay Euro70 for 2 medium size pizzas (Euro12 each typically) and 3 soft drinks. So I guess always do research on food before you go into restaurants in Venice. My initially plan of 'follow the flow' didn't work in Venice. Honestly, for me I don't mind paying for food if its good but I don't like being conned. Venice can do this to you!

The most beautiful part of Venice is the Grand Canal. The view of it during dawn or dusk is breathtaking. Strolling around St. Marks square and Rialto Bridge is a must. Actually this is the main thing to do in Venice. Nothing much else to do in Venice.

We went to other islands near Venice such as Murano and Burano. Murano is known for the glass so we had to watch a glass-blowing demonstration. Burano (another 45mins vaporetto ride) is known for its colorful houses.

All in all a delightful experience except for the dinner incident. I do love the beautiful sights of Venice but I am not sure if I would go for another time. Maybe during Carnivale?
                                    

First Hari Raya Aidil Fitri in Rome, Italy

This year is our first Hari Raya in Rome. We were joined by my father and sister-in-law whom arrived few days before Eid. Tok Ayah wanted to spend time with his first grandson. Since we have never celebrated Eid with them before, I thought I would make all the effort by cooking the Raya dishes. 

Hari Raya has been announced to fall on Wednesday, 6th July 2016. We have all be invited to the Ambassador's Residence on the first day of Raya. Everyone is required to bring Raya dishes. So I have volunteered to bring daging dendeng, chocolate cake and tiramisu. So, the day before Hari Raya I was slaving myself in the kitchen to prepare the Raya dishes. Honestly, this is the first time I ever had to do a major preparation for Hari Raya. Typically I would just help out my mum back in Ipoh. Time has definitely changes as I now have to be like my mom, preparing Raya dishes for my own family.

I made rendang ayam first. I took me almost 4 hours to make rendang ayam, hence I would not cook this dish on a normal day. It's too long! Next is the daging dendeng which took less than 2 hours. The thing with Malaysian food is that the longer it is to cook, the better it would taste. But I didn't put in kerisik. Definitely will put kerisik in next week when we have guest over for Hari Raya. 

Before we set off to Ambassador's Residence, we took the opportunity to take our obligatory Raya picture. Unfortunately Norman refuse to take pictures and throwing his tantrum. Therefore, if you see our family picture is not as perfect as I want it to be...sigh. Anyway, Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin everyone!

Norman Harris first birthday in Rome

Gosh, it has been a while since I post anything. Three months to be exact. I am currently a housewife in Rome but yet I find it challenging to keep on updating my blog. This time I have got to do it as it's my baby's first birthday so it a very special one indeed.
As parents, we have been planning to do this for a month before his birthday. The actual work is a week before but we need to come on with the menu, concept, decorations to make sure everything is nice. I didn't want to be one of the parents who keep on obsessing about their children but never throw any birthday party for their children. Instead the will write a long paragraph..telling the whole world that it's their children birthday wishing them all the best things in life. Surely, there is a lot more parents can do than posting pictures of their kids on Facebook for their birthday.

We picked the theme black and yellow. We did blue for his aqiqah so this time something different. The menu is Malaysian as our guests are Malaysian Embassy's home based staff. It's Ramadhan and the party will be for iftar (berbuka puasa) in our house.

His birthday is on 22nd of June which is on Wednesday so we had to host his birthday on weekend i.e. Saturday to make it convenient for everyone. I am happy that I manage to set up his desserts table, which the best so far. I will definitely share all these pictures with Norman one day!

Vegan banana cake

Since I am now in the mission to make desserts, I am always on the prowl searching for recipes. The next one that caught my eye is vegan banana cake. I have made it twice and my hubby loves it. Here you go the recipe:-

Ingredients:-

4 ripe bananas- mashed

Splash of vanilla essence

1/4 cup sunflower oil (60ml)

1 3/4 cup wholemeal flour (420g)

1/3 cup brown sugar (80g)

2 tsp baking powder (10g)

1/2 tsp baking soda (2.5g)

1/2 cup choc chips (120g)- I used chocolate blocks, cut it into small pieces

Method

Pre-heat oven to 175 Celcius.

Mashed the bananas in a bowl. Add in the vanilla essence and sunflower oil.

On another bowl, put in the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and chocolate chips. Mix them together.

Then combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. 

Line up baking paper and in 9 inch square pan. Put them in the pan and put in the oven. Bake for 45 mins to 1 hour (depending on your oven)

 

Enjoy the banana cake over afternoon tea. We even had it for breakfast the next day,

Mashed the bananas, the most difficult job in making this cake

Mix the wet and dry ingredients.

Bake in the oven for 45-60 mins

All done, voila!

Cut the cake and enjoy.

Vegan chocolate tart- No bake!

This is another entry of my successful attempt at making vegan desserts. I can't believe it is so delicious and vegan at the same time. No dairy and less fattening (I assume)

The ingredients are below:-

120 gram vegan margarine
200 gram chocolate blocks (I used 60% or 70% cocoa)
240 gram Oreo biscuits (I can't believe Oreo is vegan)
200 ml coconut milk

Method:-
Put Oreo biscuits in food processor. Blend until fine crumbs.
Melt the margarine and put it into the Oreo crumbs until it sand-like texture.
Then use this as base on your tart container. Use spoon to spat it down.
Put this in  the fridge for 10mins to cool.

Then put the coconut boil on pot. Use medium fire while cooking it on the stove.
After it has boiled, turn off the fire and put the chocolate blocks. Stir in until all the chocolate has dissolved.
Pour this into the tart casing which has been cooled off in the fridge.
Then put the tart into fridge overnight to set it.
Enjoy the tart next day.

I like to use fresh strawberry as the garnish.

Tart sampling by me

Hubby eat most of the tart!

Lunch at Flavio al Velavevodetto

We have been planning to visit this restaurant for a while. We finally did it today despite the weather forecast says it was going to rain in Rome. The objective is simple- to order a Roman dish.

The location of the restaurant is in Testaccio, one of the oldest Roman area. Their food is known to represent the working class of Roman back in the old days. However, this area is now known to be a hipster area which represents Rome's culinary highlights.

We made the booking at 12.30. Please make sure you book in advance as the restaurant is quite popular. We were seated. As soon as the menu arrived, we are ready to order. The following is the name in Rome.

1. Carciofi alla giudia- deep fried Jewish artichokes.
2. Tonarelli Cacio al pepe- pasta in Roman pecorine cheese and pepper
3. Tiramisu- this is the classical Italian dessert. Slight different with melting chocolate inside a glass

I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Rome. I love all the dishes that we ordered, Would definitely come again.

Carciofi alla Giudia

Cacio al pepe

Dolci- Tiramisu

Vegan chocolate cake

I have never been vegan all my life. However, in order to help cure my baby's ezcema, the specialist suggest me to cut dairy and eggs. I was overwhelmed initially but decided I would start making vegan desserts for myself.

So, here you go. My attempt at baking a chocolate cake. It is one of my favourite cake of all time.Below is the recipe that I got from the internet.

Dry Ingredients:
300 gram of all purpose flour
240 gram of granulated sugar
80 gram of unsweetened cocoa powder
5 gram of baking soda
Half teaspoon of salt

Wet ingredients:-
240 ml of warm water
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
80 ml of vegetable oil
5 ml of white vinegar

Method:-
Put in all the dry ingredient in a bowl. Mix them all together. After that, put in the wet ingredients and mix all together. You can just use a wooden spoon. Then put them in an 8 inch round baking pan. Put it in the oven (180 degrees Celcius) for 30-40 minutes. Depending on you oven, you need to insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake and check if the cake is done. If the tooth pick is clean, then the cake is ready, Cool it on the drying rack for 10 mins before you take it out.

Honestly, it was so good that none of our guests thought it was vegan!

Tiramisu- the first dessert I made since ariving in Rome

Tiramisu is one of my favourite desserts of all time, in fact I can have it at any time of a day. Since arriving in Rome, I am determined to make one. However, the studio apartment that we are living in right now does not have all the kitchen utensils required such as a dish and a whisk. I also decided to use whipped cream instead of raw eggs because it is easier.

Tiramisu is THE Italian ultimate dessert. It means 'pick me up'. It is so easy to make considering there is no baking involved. The only hard work is perhaps whipping the cream. Fortunately, I have hubby dearest to assist. So let's get to it.

Ingredients:
250g mascarpone cheese
250g cream- then became whipped cream
200g Saviordi biscuits
7 tablespoons of sugar (or more if you like it sweeter, do adjust according to your own taste)
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1 cup of Italian espresso (if you don't have it at home, just buy an espresso from your local coffee shop)

Method:
1. Whip the cream and put aside.
2. Beat the mascarpone cheese and then mix together sugar and vanilla essence.
3. Combined the whipped cream and the mascarpone mix.
4. Dip the biscuits in espresso (room temperature) and start laying at the bottom of your dish.
5. Put the cream mascarpone mixture on top. Repeat a few layers.
6. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.
7. Dust tiramisu with cocoa powder before serving. You can also shave some chocolates on the tiramisu like what I did.

Pink & Blue baby shower party for Moon

My current passion in life is hosting parties. Not just normal party invite but properly set-up with decorations and home cooked meals all made by myself. The event that I am hosting next is for a dear friend Moon who is expecting her first child. Baby shower is something very Western where it is in honour of moms to be and hosts for close friends.

 

Due to my work commitment, I had to plan one month in advance to start thinking of the concept and then slowly doing the arts stuff for decoration.

 

Things that I made first is diaper cake. After searching for various decorations for the diaper cake, I decided to do it simple and just added ribbons and tissue flowers. For a first timer, I did a good job. I can't believe people are selling this for at least RM200 where my costs is only diapers (around RM40) papers and tissue flowers. Perhaps the effort is something that money can't measure...:)

 

Other decoration items that I made is cut out baby suits, paper windmills, tissue flowers for hanging decoration.. The party does looks better that my own birthday party. I guess the effort paid off. Hosting a party for dear makes my day no matter how tired I was with outstation for the past 3 weeks...

 

So, on the Friday night before the party on Saturday...i just hang up all the deco. The next is just finishing up deco such as ribbon on the chairs. Cooking mee curry took me below 2 hours and then the rest is just finishing up decorating house for the baby shower party. I am always excited when it comes to hosting party!! Here is pics to the party...

 

 

The host getting ready for the party..last min touch-ups



Desserts table all set-up. Own made diaper cake, trifle and jelly..

 

The celebrated girl- Moon caught staring at the red velvet cake.

 

Some of the early guests.. it is a party for close friends

 

 

 

Nicely decorated chairs with tissue flowers and balloons as backdrop