Saturday, June 12, 2021

Hello UMP

After the struggle of PhD, here comes the sweet part
Officially started my career as an academician at UMP on March 2, 2020
2 weeks before MCO to be exact haha




I didn't even get a chance to meet the Dean on the day that I report duty
March 18, 2020
MCO started for 3 months

There goes the beginning of my academic career of staying at home with my 3 months old baby
What a blessing
I don't have to worry of leaving him at home anymore
I work from home and I can basically see him every single second 




Our daily routine is FaceTiming with dada since my husband is back in Arizona
He left after 1 month spent with us
He has to back because he's working there
But now he's back with us here in Kuantan...

I will explain on that in another post
Adios!

Monday, August 31, 2020

Welcoming our baby to the world Part 3

We name him Adam Allomov
He is carrying his dad family name




After spending 3 days at home, Adam has to be warded again
I rushed him to the ER early in the morning on December 18, 2019
I found himself was breathing really fast
I'm so glad there's a paeds doctor that morning
She intubated Adam, put him to sleep and warded in NICU


He begin the journey of over a month going back and forth from home to hospital
He was not stable
Adam got pneumonia
I have no idea where he got the virus
Few day before Christmas, If I am not mistaken, it was December 22, 2019
I received a call from the NICU
Doctor wanted to see me ASAP
My heart cannot stop pounding
I went there and saw Adam was hooked to a lot of wires
I asked what happened
She said Adam's conditioned have gotten worse that morning
They found him coughing so hard until he extubated himself
I can't even imagine that
He must be in pain that time
Doctor told be be strong
I understand that kind of conversation
They just wanted me to be prepared

I left the room and shed tears on my sister's shoulder
We both crying
Everyone was looking
I can't hold the tears anymore


But, I pulled myself together and called my husband
I told him what has happened
He booked a flight and left immediately
2 days later, he arrived to see our son
Adam was still battling with the virus that time
Still hooked on wires with multiple antibiotics


On January 5th, 2020
He finally of the ventilator
Adam finally able to breath without it
Still hooked with the oxygen but at least we can hear his voice now


After over a month, Adam finally can go home
On January 20th, we brought him home with lots of follow up appointment with the doctors
But alhamdulillah we survive the hardest trial 





Welcoming our baby to the world Part 2

So let's continue the story
I made it home on November 17, 2019
Guess what day is it?





Our 3rd anniversary
I didn't get to celebrate it this time 
When I got home in Tanah Merah, Malaysia, I felt so relieved that the journey is finally done
Alhamdulillah I managed to finish my PhD while being pregnant

So the first thing that I have to do was opening "the pink book" with the local hospital
Given that they have zero knowledge about my pregnancy, my doctors from Arizona already prepared me with a bundle of papers containing all my medical records starting from my 7th week of pregnancy until 32 week
The nurses and doctors were amazed that I managed to come back



Fast forward to 2 weeks later after arriving in Malaysia
I started leaking
Alhamdulillah that I have a siste whose a doctor 
She managed to identify that something was wrong with me
They rushed me to the hospital
I have to be warded and little did I know that week will be the day that I met my son













After a week warded, doctor has to do emergency c-section on me at 34 weeks 5 days
So my baby was born premature
Here begin the horrifying experience 





After the surgery, I didn't hear my baby's crying voice
They have to rushed him to the NICU because the was breathing very fast
He got intubated and I didn't get to see him that day
They took me back to the ward for recovery and I'm so glad that I have my mom, my sister, and my friends with me
My sister and my friends work there as a doctor
They managed to go and see my baby even before me
They comfort me to not be worried and just rest



24 hours later, I get to meet my baby
He's the most beautiful baby I ever seen
Alhamdulillah for this blessing
I sit there and try my best to not cry and stay strong for him
The nurses advice me and they told me baby can actually feel their mom
They have special connection with their mom
So mom have to stay strong in order for the baby to win the battle
After 28 hours, the extubated my son
He managed to breath using the nasal oxygen 

In the third day, doctor told me that I can go home but not my baby
Now begin the journey of daily visit to the NICU
My family told me to just stay at home and they can deliver the breastmilk to the hospital but I insist to visit every single day without fail

It just give me comfort when I saw my baby
I went there every day and breastfeed him 
It didn't bother me at all that I have to sit for quiet long time even I just had surgery
I just want ti spend all my time with him


On December 15, 2019
My son was discharge from the NICU
We can finally bring him home
But little did we know, it was only for 3 days until he got warded again (T_T)


To be continued...

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Welcoming our Baby to the world part 1

Hello,

I'm back
It has been 6 months
Long story short what had happened was I decided to deliver my baby in Malaysia instead of USA
So, the whole plan was changed
I left Arizona immediately after I was done with my Thesis defense
About 2 weeks approximately

But first, I have to say goodbye to my friends!!!
I miss them!!
I hope I can see them again












Okay, let's talk about the journey 
It was a very tough journey
I traveled alone all the way from Arizona to Malaysia when I was 32 weeks pregnant
I was balling my eyes along the journey
Because of 2 reasons: I was super uncomfortable and tired & I miss my husband and feel super sad that I had to leave him alone in Arizona

So, let's begin from my journey from Phoenix, Arizona to Kota Bharu, Malaysia
I left Phoenix airport on November 15, 2019
Exactly 32 weeks pregnant with my baby
My first leg was Phoenix to Los Angeles
It was okay because it's a short trip
Transit in LAX for couple hours and my next leg from LAX to Shanghai
This one is the hardest
I chose the aisle to sit because I thought it would be easier for me to go to the restroom
You know, being pregnant at 32 weeks is like I live in the bathroom most of the time
My baby keeps pressing on my bladder haha 
Unfortunately, it was the most uncomfortable seat ever
People keep on walking passed by me 
I cannot sleep for the whole 15 hours journey
* I'm crying while writing this post because I kinda regret of my decision... it was the hardest journey ever to travel in that condition ALONE
Once I arrived in Shanghai, I have to walk very far to find the gate
At the gate, they did not allow me to board the flight yet because my connection was too short (1 hour 15 minutes)
They had to wait for my luggage to be transferred from my LAX flight to this flight
While waiting, they asked me to fill out the form since they notice that I was pregnant
While waiting, I cried while talking to my husband
I was so tired and emotional but then the nice lady told me not to cry and they will make sure everything is okay and they will take care of me 
I felt relieved once she said that
I board the flight to KUL
It was the most comfortable flight ever
Less than 20 people on the flight
It was Malaysian Airlines
They served Malaysian food
I felt so much comfort by just smelling the food that they served
I fall asleep immediately after the meal
7 hours later, I arrived in KUL
My buddies were waiting for me at the airport
It was so exciting to see familiar faces waiting after such a long and emotional journey
Because I had a couple hours time before my next flight to my hometown, they took me to one of our girlfriend's house
I managed to wind up a little bit, took a shower, change and had lunch with them
It was really nice 
Next is my final leg
From KUL to KBR, my hometown
My mom and my sister were waiting for me
I got so emotional after I saw them
I started crying to my mom
I miss my husband so much










to be continued...


Saturday, November 2, 2019

I'm finally done with my PhD

Assalamualaikum!

With a humble heart, I would like to share that I finally finished my PhD
Alhamdulillah with this blessing
I never imagine that this will come true
I can still remember 4 years ago when I step on Arizona soil, a very foreign land for me
I cried for almost a week because of homesick
Now I'm done
I can go home!!!
Not alone but with a Ph.D., a husband, and insyaAllah a baby boy
Alhamdulillah with all the blessing that I have now

So the defense went very smooth
I manage to answer every single question that asked by audience and my committee members
I am so glad that reading and prepared myself to write the book chapter was worth it
All the questions were general questions that related to my field
If I read enough, then I will not have the problem to answer that

Now I'm waiting for my graduation ceremony that will be on December 17 this year
After that, I have to deliver my baby here because that time will be too late for me to leave
I will be almost full-term by that time
So I can only leave after confinement here
That's okay
At least my mom and my sister are coming on January to take care of me and my baby
I wish I will be able to take them somewhere near especially to taste the snow up north Arizona
We will see

But after all, it's such a big relief that I am finally done with my study
It feels so surreal and I still couldn't believe that I'm a doctor now
When I passed the defense yesterday, my Professor called me Dr. Kamarudin (they call by last/family name here)
I feel like I want to cry
I wish my dad is still alive to see what have I achieved
He would be so proud to see me holding the degree
But it's okay, I believe that he is watching me now from the other side
At least my mom is still here to celebrate this important mile of my life with me
I am very very grateful to be surrounded with people that always support me
Without them, I don't know how I can survive this journey
I almost quit this 2 years ago but I never did
I keep going, keep pushing myself
Countless sad and angry moments
I can't even remember how many times I cried and even ask myself why I do this, why I'm doing phd
But alhamdulillah I still make sure to keep on striving 
And it's worth it

I am looking forward to moving to Malaysia and start teaching
COntribute my knowledge, what I have learned here with my future students
#phdone

link to my defense on youtube: https://youtu.be/znw6GbURSSg







Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Trip to Texas 2019

Hi

On September 23, our flight to Texas was at midnight
Since our house is quite close to the airport, we left the house around 2 hours before the boarding time
We arrived in Dallas around 5 am on September 24
Get our rental car and straight to College Station
It took 3 hours driving to get there
We decided to spend 2 nights in CS and 2 nights in Austin because we have to visit our family in Austin
We get to CS when its almost lunchtime
We both were so tired because we basically didn't sleep at all the whole night 
We barely can survive the road trip to CS
We're glad we made it safely to our friend's house
We had our lunch at their house and then head back to the hotel to check-in
It was 1 pm at that time 
We passed out until 6pm hahaha
Seriously no joke
Super tired
My friend was texting me telling me that dinner is ready and just stop by anytime
They refuse to let us eat outside
They want us to come and have dinner with them
So sweet 
We spent the night at their house after dinner and watch movies with the folks
Then return back to our hotel
Collapsed again and woke up at 10am the next morning haha
Like seriously, we were so tired 
We spent the whole day with them from lunch until midnight
Had fun went for shopping, some barbeque at night
Then we have to say goodbye to them
Because the next morning we have to leave CS as early as 5am 








We drove to Austin for 2 hours and meet our family there
We had fun spent time in Austin and our flight back to AZ was on September 28 at 11pm
We spent the whole day in Dallas 
This time I feel like the trip super long compared to last year
I think it's because we fly instead of driving all the way to Texas 
Now we're planning for a babymoon in November since our second anniversary is coming soon and we want to go somewhere before I get too big to travel.. 
Maybe somewhere close like Las Vegas or San Francisco.. We will see...
I will keep you updated on that

























Oh and one more thing, I just got the date for my dissertation defense/viva
It will be on November 1, 2019
Now it's getting so real
I started to feel so nervous about it but I have to go through it
Have to get it done 
Then I can focus on preparing myself for the arrival of our baby :)