The day I knew that I am going to be a dad

January 2004, five years ago.

I didn't know what the old lady doctor trying to find in that bleak monitor of her -while she was rubbing that USG detector to my lovely wife's belly. All I know is that afterward she asked my wife to drink almost 2 liters of mineral water as fast as possible -before she would try to do it again.

So we walked out from the clinic, and I fetch for my wife one big bottle of mineral water from the nearest "warung" (small shop along the streets of Indonesia) in a rather hasty manner. It isn't easy, you know -trying to drink 2 liters of water when you were not thirsty. It took my wife more than 30 minutes to drink the bottle empty -and ready to go into the clinic again to repeat the procedure.

This time it didn't take too much time for Doctor Sophie to find what she seemed to be looking for, then she said to my wife: "Positive .. congratulation -you are pregnant!". Then her assistant printed something in a small piece of thermal paper and gave it to me. I looked at the paper, winced for a while, and said "What? What am I looking at here?". Then the good old doctor said ,"That black pocket is going to be the home of your baby for the next nine months" (I paint it green in the photo on top). To be honest, I can't really tell why it was all so confusing that time; because I didn't quiet get which black pocket did she mean? or because it's my first time for me in a gynecolog clinic? or because the doctor had just said "I am a father to be"?

Of course I felt happy ... it felt more then just happy .. it felt great! It had only been one month since we started planning to have a child and now the doctor said I'm going to be a father in just about nine months. But there were other feelings other than the happy sensation that I was feeling, I'm sure of that. I also felt afraid, helpless, confused, tense and many other feeling that i dislike. All of that ghastly feelings griped me in one single moment. I was going to be a father ... and I was frightened, not exactly the feeling you expected before.

Well, It's not that bad .. really ... I managed to smile to my wife and keep on breathing -while still thinking what the heck was I gonna do after this.

Benben
come see my other blog:
http://mahanagari.multiply.com

Samudra Faris Aziz, my first journey

Acceptance and Preparations

I did quite well coping with the fact that my wife was pregnant and I have to prepare everything for the coming of our baby. We even bought two books on the subject of Pregnancy and Raising a Baby. I felt so much better when I finished reading those two books. Well, the Internet also help a lot. I can't imagine how my father looked for such information in his time (or maybe he didn't? .. being a very quiet and a calm man that he is).

I think as my self as "an unprepared father to be", because until the doctor said that my wife's pregnant -I never really prepared anything for it. I virtually had no savings for the baby, I had no insurance, not to mention that I understand nothing about pregnancy and a pregnant wife -and the worst part is that in Indonesia you are on your own when it come to these things. The state doesn't provide you with an insurance or a social security service, and nobody will believe me if I declare myself poor (a university graduate who drives a car declare himself as a poor? who's gonna buy that?). Because the fact is I ain't poor - I just forgot to save .. he he he .. sadly, I think most of us (father to be) did -most of us are "unprepared father to be".

Thanks God that I'm a fast learner and a good money saver. So I was able catch up and go to the doctor every single month for the next eight months. And also, bought nice expensive milk for my pregnant wife (which she resent .. ha ha).

Here is the USG picture of my baby in its second month:Medical Encyclopedia wrote:
In this month, the heart starts to pump and the nervous system
(including the brain and spinal cord) begins to develop.
The 1 in (2.5 cm) long fetus has a complete cartilage skeleton,
which is replaced by bone cells by month's end.
Arms, legs and all of the major organs begin to appear. Facial features begin to form.

That afternoon, it was the second time we saw our baby using that USG device -can you see the head (green) and the eyes (picture in the right)?. He is about the size of my thumb and I saw him swimming freely. My God, what a wonderful sight! We celebrate the moment by "makan sate ayam" (having indonesian chicken satay) before going back home. It was the best chicken satay I ever had.

Talking about satay .. satay is a grilled sticked meat , much like a shaslick, which my wife would love to have anytime during her first three months pregnancy. Indonesian called these first three months as "bulan-bulan ngidam". They are the harder months in having a pregnant wife. Woman's sense of smell became so sensitive that they can smell steamed rice from hundreds of meters away -and saying that it stinks (rice? stinks? oh please!). Many of them don't want to eat at all, luckily my wife wasn't suffering to much from this "ngidam" symptoms. Every now and then she would refuse to eat anything except chicken satay, and satay became our regular diet. Thanks God that satay is a meal full of nutrition and protein, though I think it has too much carbon, but all and all I don't have to worry too much about nutrition for my baby. Of course the doctor did give some food supplement and vitamins for her -which sometimes I also like to take (which made me gain about 8 kilograms in 8 months .. ).

Here is the picture of its third month

See him sitting there? (photo on the left)

Medical Encyclopedia wrote:
By now, the fetus has grown to 4 in (10 cm) and weighs a little more than an ounce (28 g).
Now the major blood vessels and the roof of the mouth are almost completed,
as the face starts to take on a more recognizably human appearance. Fingers and toes appear.
All the major organs are now beginning to form;
the kidneys are now functional and the four chambers of the heart are complete.

In this third month, somehow the lady doctor was able to see what I couldn't. That afternoon after looking briefly to the USG monitor she said ,"Well, sir. It's a he". I wouldn't lie by saying I wasn't delighted. I was always wanted a son for my first child, although at the same time I was also saying to everybody that it doesn't matter to me whether it was going to be a boy or a girl -I guess every parents wouldn't want to be seen disappointed if they found out that the child they're going to have is not in the sex they expected ( i had a hard time writing this in English, but you got what i meant , do you?). And don't get me wrong, I'd love a little girl too -I guess. But I felt I would be a better father if I had a baby boy first -at least I know what a boy would love to play with his father. Did I mention that I only had a big brother in my family? That, i guess, had something to do with my wish to have a baby boy as my first child.

the forth monthMedical Encyclopedia wrote:
The fetus begins to kick and swallow, although most women still can't feel the baby move at this point.
Now 4 oz (112 g), the fetus can hear and urinate, and has established sleep-wake cycles.
All organs are now fully formed, although they will continue to grow for the next five months.
The fetus has skin, eyebrows, and hair.

The baby was so much bigger in its forth month. If you look hard enough you could see his face silhouette in the USG print above. I remember trying to feel its kick and punch on my wife's tummy. It was a bit hard since it was still too weak to be felt by an outside hands, but its mother was able to feel it -and just knowing it was kicking its mother made me feel super.
On his fourth month we held a "syukuran empat bulanan". It is a custom of Indonesian muslim to thank God for blowing His holy spirit into the baby's body. We believe he's finally a human being at the time -a person with a body and a soul which I should give the same respect I gave to other human being. I also remember that I had to lead the prayer my self since I had nobody else to do it for me. Man, I fell like a father already!

The fifth month

Medical Encyclopedia wrote:
Now weighing up to a 1 lb (454 g) and measuring 8–12 in (20–30 cm),
the fetus experiences rapid growth as its internal organs continue to grow.
At this point, the mother may feel her baby move,
and she can hear the heartbeat with a stethoscope.

We could see his spine and I felt that he is big enough to have a conversation with his father. We talked about the world, about Indonesia, about happy we are for him, and about how cruel life could be. I never knew if he could hear my voice -or he could understand what I was saying, for that matter. But I guess I needed to talk to him. Well, we all talked to cats or dogs once in a while - and that doesn't make you a "cuckoo", right?

The sixth month

Medical Encyclopedia wrote:
Even though its lungs are not fully developed,
a fetus born during this month can survive with intensive care.
Weighing 1–1.5 lb (454–681 g), the fetus is red, wrinkly,
and covered with fine hair all over its body.
The fetus will grow very fast during this month as its organs continue to develop.

It was our first time to see his face -close up (see green area on above picture). "Is he going to look like me or like his mother?", that's the first thing that came up into my mind. Is there going to be another person who look just like me in the world? I beginning to feel excited and yet so relax. This pregnancy thing turned up to be a joyride after all. After six months, the fetus had grown much stronger that we didn't have to worry too much about miscarriage and stuff like that. I also feel that the baby had really became a part of the family and I kinda got used to all these things.

the seventh month

Medical Encyclopedia wrote:
There is a better chance that a fetus born during this month will survive.
The fetus continues to grow rapidly, and may weigh as much as 3 lb (1.3 kg) by now.
Now the fetus can suck its thumb and look around its watery womb with open eyes.

My son had grown so big that he wouldn't fit into the USG monitor -all you'd see in the monitor is one big mass of something which is constantly moving. Doctor Sophie her self seemed to be interested in measuring the size of the baby's head for some reason. I believe the baby was supposed to had developed some sort of intelligence by then, because whenever I press my finger on my wife's tummy -he'd kick or punch back (my very first lessons on self defense technique to him If somebody is pushing you around -kick him back! .. ha ha ha)

The Eight Month

Medical Encyclopedia wrote:
Growth continues but slows down
as the baby begins to take up most of the room inside the uterus.
Now weighing 4–5 lbs (1.8–2.3 kg) and measuring 16–18 in (40–45 cm) long,
the fetus may at this time prepare for delivery next month by moving into the head-down position.

Doctor Sophie predicted that my wife was going to give birth to my son in her eight and a half month of her pregnancy. This is due to the medical history of her mother and her sister who also gave birth during their 8,5 month of their pregnancy. Meaning that I must prepare everything by the eight month .. a.k.a baby stuff shopping week! First of all, we created a long list of baby's needs: clothes, hats, socks, mittens, shoes, blankets, pillows, bed sheets, milk bottles, diapers, and so on and so on. Then we went to the nearest baby shop and buy those stuff on the list. The good thing is we didn't find to much problem shopping since we are both aren't shopahollic -we did it fast and accurate :)

A much bigger problem is choosing which hospital for the delivery. Doctor Sophie gave us a list of hospitals for us to choose -complete with the price list, list of practicing doctors, etc. All good ones are of course expensive while choosing a cheap one somehow would be a bit risky. We did some survey directly to some of the hospital to make sure that what they wrote on the brochures are true and updated. Finally we chose Hermina Mother and Baby Hospital which was the closest one to our house. It was a brand new hospital where doctor Sophie also practise as a gynecolog. After all the preparation was set, all we needed to do was to wait -but waiting was probably the most exhausting and brain-draining activity of all. I wish I could skipped the waiting if I had to do all over again.

the day you knew that your going to be a dad

January 2004, three years ago.

I didn't know what the old lady doctor trying to find in that bleak monitor of her -while she was rubbing that USG detector to my lovely wife's belly. All I know is that afterward she asked my wife to drink almost 2 liters of mineral water as fast as possible -before she would try to do it again.

So we walked out from the clinic, and I fetch for my wife one big bottle of mineral water from the nearest "warung" (small shop along the streets of Indonesia) in a rather hasty manner. It isn't easy, you know -trying to drink 2 liters of water when you were not thirsty. It took my wife more than 30 minutes to drink the bottle empty -and ready to go into the clinic again to repeat the procedure.

This time it didn't take too much time for Doctor Sophie to find what she seemed to be looking for, then she said to my wife: "Positive .. congratulation -you are pregnant!". Then her assistant printed something in a small piece of thermal paper and gave it to me. I looked at the paper, winced for a while, and said "What? What am I looking at here?". Then the good old doctor said ,"That black pocket is going to be the home of your baby for the next nine months" (I paint it green in the photo on top). To be honest, I can't really tell why it was all so confusing that time; because I didn't quiet get which black pocket did she mean? or because it's my first time for me in a gynecolog clinic? or because the doctor had just said "I am a father to be"?

Of course I felt happy ... it felt more then just happy .. it felt great! It had only been one month since we started planning to have a child and now the doctor said I'm going to be a father in just about nine months. But there were other feelings other than the happy sensation that I was feeling, I'm sure of that. I also felt afraid, helpless, confused, tense and many other feeling that i dislike. All of that ghastly feelings griped me in one single moment. I was going to be a father ... and I was frightened, not exactly the feeling you expected before.

Well, It's not that bad .. really ... I managed to smile to my wife and keep on breathing -while still thinking what the heck was I gonna do after this.

Benben
come see my other blog:
http://mahanagari.multiply.com

Trip ke Museum Geologi

Samsam tuh senang sekali browsing gambar-gambar di internet. Suatu saat, sesudah dia browsing gambar-gambar dinosaurus di google picture pakai PicLens, dia bilang ,"Samsam pingin lihat tengkorak dinosurus." Jadilah pagi itu kita langsung mandi dan bersiap-siap untuk berjalan-jalan ke satu-satunya tempat di mana kita bisa memperlihatkan tengkorak dinosaurus padanya.

Museum Geologi termasuk sebuah Lembaga yang cukup tua. Keberadaan Museum Geologi berkaitan erat dengan sejarah penyelidikan geologi dan tambang di wilayah Nusantara yang dimulai sejak pertengahan abad ke-17 oleh ahli-ahli Eropa. Setelah di Eropa terjadi revolusi industri pada pertengahan abad ke-18, mereka sangat membutuhkan bahan tambang sebagai bahan dasar industri. Pemerintah Belanda sadar akan pentingnya penguasaan bahan galian di wilayah Nusantara. Dengan jalan itu diharapkan perkembangan industri di Negeri Belanda dapat ditunjang. Maka dibentuklah Dienst van het Mijnwezen pada tahun 1850. Kelembagaan ini berganti nama jadi Dienst van den Mijnbouw pada tahun 1922, yang bertugas melakukan penyelidikan geologi dan sumberdaya mineral.

Karena membutuhkan ruang penyimpanan peta, batuan, fosil, mineral dan lainnya -maka Deinst van den Mijnbouw membangun sebuah Geologisch Laboratorium di Rembrandt Straat (Jl Diponegoro, dekat Gedung Sate) di tahun 1928 dengan arsitek Menalda van Schouwenburg.

Singkat cerita, karena antara tahun 1940 - 1950 terjadi perang kemerdekaan, maka gedung ini berpindah-pindah tangan dari tangan Belanda, ke tangan Jepang, lalu ke tangan Republik, pindah lagi ke tangan Belanda, lalu akhirnya jadi milik Republik lagi.

Di tahun 1999, Museum Geologi mendapatkan bantuan dari pemerintah jepang senilai 700 juta yen. Hasilnya adalah gedung yang lebih terawat, display yang lebih rapi, dan koleksi yang lebih lengkap.

Waktu jaman masih kecil saya senang sekali main-main ke sini untuk melihat fosil Mastodon dan Kerbau Purbakala. Sekarang anak saya (dan saya juga) lebih senang lagi karena ada replika fosil Tyranosaurus Rex sumbangan orang Jepang. (Tyranosaurus Rex = Raja Kadal Jahat; Tyran = Tirani/Jahat, Saurus = Kadal, Rex = Raja).

Yang lebih asik lagi adalah setiap hari minggu selalu diputar Film Pendek mengenai Geologi di Auditorium-nya. Ada beberapa koleksi film yang diputar, tapi sejauh ini saya baru nonton dua di antaranya.

Jangan datang hari jumat atau libur nasional karena mereka tidak akan buka buka di hari-hari itu. Mereka selalu mulai buka pukul 9 pagi sampai pukul 15.30 sore. Kecuali hari sabtu dan minggu di mana mereka sudah tutup mulai jam 13.00.

Ada satu hal yang paling aneh dari museum ini ... hampir semua layanannya gratis (no entrance fee, and they don't charge if you want to watch the films).

Sebagian tulisan di posting ini saya ambil dari situs resmi Museum Geologi, silahkan klik di link-nya untuk tahu lebih banyak.

Trip dari Ciwangun to Sukawana

Trip dari Ciwangun ke Sukawana adalah trip pendek yang kami (saya, Fanny dan Samsam) lakukan bulan April 2008 yang lalu. Tripnya pendek, hanya sekitar 8 km. Ditempuh mulai jam 9 pagi sampai jam 4 sore, jadi cuman 7 jam jalan santai. In fact, "santai sekali" karena kita harus mengikuti kecepatan maksimalnya si Samsam yang baru berumur 3 tahun 9 bulan.

Sebenarnya kita bermaksud untuk berjalan ke Situ Lembang. Tapi kita keluar jalur .. terlalu ke timur. Sehingga sampainya ke Kebun Teh Sukawana .. he he he... Untungnya sepanjang perjalanan kita bisa menikmati indahnya alam di lembah antara Gunung Burangrang dan Gunung Tangkuban Parahu. Jadi sama sekali enggak menyesal.

Trek ini highly recomended untuk keluarga, karena perjalanannya tidak terlalu berat, pemandangannya hijauuuu, bisa naik turun bukit, menyeberangi sungai, piknik di kebun teh, dll.

Mobil bisa diparkir di Ciwangun Indah Camp (di samping Villa Istana Bunga). Nanti diambil lagi sore hari di tempat yang sama. Karena trek pulangnya melalui jalan yang sama.