Of Breastfeeding Drill and Exercise Drill

I was in the middle of proposing names for Little C to Kamal as he gave me a back massage when I fell asleep. It must be around 11:00 p.m. which is considered early for me since I have had an hour of nap during the day. That explains why I woke up at 3:15 a.m. feeling fresh.

The first thing I did upon waking up was, of course, turned to Kamal and pinched et pecked his nose (in the hope that he would wake up). A futile effort for a heavy sleeper (and by heavy, I don't mean his weight). I only stopped pinching and pecking him when he protested with a frown.

Then, I waddled to the bathroom for the essentials. Out of the bathroom, I switched on the bedside light, reached for my laptop and multi-tasked. My sensitive son must have noticed the extra lighting (from the bedside and the laptop) that he wiggled. Aha! An opportunity to wake Kamal up.

I lay down to put Kamal's hand on my belly while coaxing Little C into a conversation. He loved it when I talked to him. He has responded to Kamal's voice as well (as opposed to being cheeky i.e keeping still whenever daddy poked him through mommy's belly, albeit his intrepid kicks before). Now that Little C recognises daddy's pitch and tone, the former would get excited even at the latter's snoring!

My God, I feel contented for these little joys. On such a beautiful morning.

*Snap*

Kamal and I had dinner with a fellow friend yesterday. The friend said it was the first time within the week that he ate oily food. We ordered rice, mushroom soup (malay style, not the creamy type), kerabu bilis and omelette. Saying so, he merely took a spoonful of the omelette, the only oily food on the table. Apparently, he has started a health regime with the help of another friend who is a fitness guru. The fitness guru friend, along with his wife, are super toned as they lead an active lifestyle; they go to the gym and they dance part-time. The husband is a trainer cum choreographer while the wife is a policewoman who dances with her spouse at Istana Budaya and Citrawarna Malaysia (and the likes) during her spare time.

I asked our dinner date whether I could join him and he said "why not?". The only setback is the location of the gym. You see, I have been contemplating a number of plans to be fit after delivering Little C- scouring for a personal trainer (either at Fitness First Puchong or TLS Fitness Centre; why oh why doesn't Putrajaya or Bangi have a proper fitness centre?), and mentally drawing a schedule for self-exercise within my neighbourhood.

Yes, yes, I'll be realistic with my goal.

I must say that I have been heavier than I am now. To think that I have gained 12 kilograms during this pregnancy with nine weeks left, you must wonder how much did I weigh during that particular period of 'I have been heavier than now'. Extremely heavy! Post SPM, back in Kampung Berkat, my father invited me for a daily morning walk around the village. After a while, I sensed something amiss if I didn't continue the routine even though my father was not around. Without a companion, my mother would not allow me to walk around the village alone; so I resorted to skipping rope at home. I woke up at 5:00 a.m. so that I would have extra time to exercise. To my amusement now, I flatly said 'no' to my mother's offer of the exquisite karipap pusing because it was an oily food! Gigih.

My chums from the boarding school days were impressed with the new me when we gathered on the school ground for our SPM result. Only to marvel at the weight I gained during university years. During final year, as I have written before, I walked from Taman Universiti to UTM (which took 45 minutes). I even owned a (cheap but treasured) treadmill which I used religiously twice a day, for 45 minutes minimum each session. My dinner companions knew me as the soup and air kosong person. Did I feel bland? No. It felt marvellous to be fit, again.

In retrospective, I told Kamal yesterday that I missed those days when I ran non-stop for two hours on Bandar Seri Putra terrain, during which Kamal labelled us as the idealistic newlyweds. Now, he is occupied with work 24/7 while I nurse a pregnancy complication (although I made efforts to walk as much as I could despite the low placenta). I also miss the rigorous exercise during the diploma course in Bukit Kiara. Not to mention the luxury of going to the gym together when both Kamal and I were loosely tied to our work/commitments.

I can visualise myself fit again. I believe I can awaken the inner discipline. Furthermore, I have decided to take a longer leave after delivery in order to rejuvenate myself while giving more attention to our precious new family member. In other words, time is not a constraint any longer. To summarise it, there'll be no excuses. The way I perceived exercise and healthy diet, both were fun and (so) orgasmic. About fine dining (which is a hobby?), I could still enjoy the experience as there are numerous choices of delicately delicious items for health-conscious Homo sapiens. Yet, why the excuses?

Care to share, o motivated people out there?