how to use whereas的八卦，PINTEREST和Yahoo名人娛樂都在討論

【台灣防疫成效 #國際政要 都肯定👍👍👍】

第二波移入疫情強勢回流 🌀
看到確診人數增加
相信有在追指揮中心記者會的大家
內心不免七上八下
但只要我們 #謹慎應對 持續落實 #防疫工作
相信還是有機會守住J一波‼️

雖然還是會擔心
但蒐集癖小編決定要再發一篇落落長的文
讓各位看看世界各國的政要大咖
如何讚 #台灣 目前為止的防疫模式 👏👏👏

#我們不害怕雨淋
#因為我們知道大雨之後會有彩虹 🌈
#團結一心 #正向防疫
#台灣加油 💪

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, we'll endeavour to remain prudent in our epidemic prevention measures. We believe we can stem the tide.
To reinstill some confidence, we've collected a series of quotes from politicians and ministers around the world, praising the #TaiwanModel as part of the fight against the #COVID19 #WuhanCoronavirus. Read what they had to say below!

《亞太地區》

#紐西蘭 New Zealand 🇳🇿
3/15 ─ 紐西蘭總理阿爾登：「我們將緊密遵循相當接近於台灣的模式，他們(台灣政府)針對公眾集會所建立的因應架構，是相當成功的。我們將以它為根據，來設定我們的標準。」
March 15 - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, in a Q+A interview on Sunday, that officials were looking at tailored criteria for events that may need to be cancelled, such as whether people would be in close proximity to one another.
“We're going to follow, pretty closely, the Taiwanese model. They worked up a framework for mass gatherings that's been quite successful,” she said.

#日本 Japan 🇯🇵
3/12 ─ 日本台灣交流協會代表泉裕泰：「我相信台灣的真知灼見可與世界各國廣泛共享，並對苦於遭受傳染蔓延的其他國家與地區做出巨大的貢獻。」
March 12 - Japan's chief representative in Taiwan, Hiroyasu Izumi, stated that he believes Taiwan's insights can be widely shared with other countries in the world and make great contributions to other countries and regions suffering from the spread of infection.

《亞非地區》

#以色列 Israel 🇮🇱
3/14 ─ 以色列總理尼坦雅胡：「順帶一提，這個方法已經在台灣試過了，可能很成功。以色列是少數國家當中，有這個能力做的。我們將採用這個方法。」
March 14 - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was not an easy choice to make and described the virus as an “invisible enemy that must be located.” He said Israel would follow similar methods used by Taiwan.

3/14 ─ 以色列前總理巴拉克：「以色列可以對抗新冠病毒，但必須像台灣一樣反應快速。」
March 14 - Former prime minister Ehud Barak stated that Israel can fight against the novel coronovirus, but that it must react as swiftly as Taiwan.

《拉美地區》

#尼加拉瓜 Nicaragua🇳🇮
3/11 ─ 尼加拉瓜副總統穆麗優：「我們得知台灣政府及人民實行了成功的防疫模式，我們已向台灣駐尼大使提出請求，期盼台灣與我們分享經驗，因為台灣不僅成功防制傳染，且維持人民秩序免於慌亂，確實值得學習。」
March 11 - La vicepresidenta de Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, declaró: "Nosotros hemos conocido el Modelo exitoso de contención que puso en práctica el Gobierno y el Pueblo de la República de China(Taiwán), y hemos pedido a su Embajador aquí, que nos presenten ese Modelo exitoso, porque han logrado no solo contener, sino también mantener a la población en un estado que no esté de pánico." (The vice president of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, stated, "We are aware of the successful model of prevention that the government and the people of Taiwan have put into practice, and we've asked the Taiwanese ambassador to make a presentation on this successful model, because they've not only managed to contain the virus, but they've kept their population from panicking.")

#聖文森 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines🇻🇨
3/12 ─ 聖文森衛生部長布朗：「台灣因『一個中國』原則不被承認為獨立國家，因此未被納入參與「世界衛生大會」（WHA），台灣距離中國僅為海峽之隔，然而疫情爆發至今卻僅有少數確診病例，我已正式致函何大使尋求台灣的協助以對抗聖國疫情。」
March 12 - "It’s quite remarkable that they’re just 81 miles from mainland China and whereas coronavirus in mainland China has been spiralling out of control...That’s incredible,” Health minister Luke Brown said. Taiwan is not a part of the World Health Assembly as it is not recognised as being an independent country under the One-China policy. Browne said the ambassador has mentioned some of the measures that Taiwan has taken, some of which he believes will work in the Vincentian context while others may not.

#聖露西亞 Saint Lucia🇱🇨
3/11 ─ 聖露西亞衛生部長艾瑟柯：「目前全球正共同對抗來自中國武漢的新型冠狀病毒，聖露西亞政府藉此機會讚許臺灣採取有效率且具成效的防疫措施，並提議與露國緊密合作防疫。」
March 11 - “As the world is fighting the COVID-19 Coronavirus originated from Wuhan, China, the Government of Saint Lucia wishes to take this opportunity to commend Taiwan for its efficient and efficacious measures, and its offer to work closely with Saint Lucia to contain the pandemic,” said Health Minister Mary Isaac.

#貝里斯 Belize🇧🇿
2/4 ─ 貝里斯衛生部長馬林：「貝國政府及衛生部肯定台灣關鍵的公衛措施，包括對隔離案例進行電子監控、口罩及其他物資供應，強化防疫工作。」
Feb. 4 - Minister of Health, Hon. Pablo Marin: “The Government of Belize, and by extension the Ministry of Health, applauds Taiwan’s key public health measures that include electronic monitoring of quarantined cases and the provision of masks and other items to support the prevention efforts.”

#巴拉圭 Paraguay🇵🇾
3/17 ─ 巴拉圭參議員法切提：「儘管與WHO無任何合作關係，台灣仍向前行…台灣也因此能夠成功防堵新冠病毒。」
March 17 - Fernando Silva Facetti, Paraguayan politician: "A PESAR DE LA NULA COOPERACIÓN DE LA @opsoms, #TAIWAN SIGUE ADELANTE... Así es como Taiwán logró contener el brote de #coronavirus" (Despite the lack of cooperation from the WHO, Taiwan continues to progress... This is how Taiwan managed to contain the coronavirus.)

#委內瑞拉 Venezuela🇻🇪
3/13 ─ 委內瑞拉臨時政府代表楊杰斯議員：「感謝情同手足的台灣人民贈交我們防疫所需的口罩及酒精。Taiwan Can Help！」
March 13 - Jesús M. Yánez M., Venezuelan politician: "Gracias a el hermano pueblo de Taiwan nos encontramos entregando tapa boca y kits de alcohol, denunciando la falta de prevención y de medidas acordes contra el COVIDー19 Taiwan Can Help" (Thanks to our brothers and sisters in Taiwan, we find ourselves with face masks and alcohol kits, denouncing the lack of prevention and appropriate measures against COVID-19. Taiwan Can Help.)

3/15 ─ 委內瑞拉駐西班牙大使艾卡利：「台灣及早警覺，並已阻擋了疫情擴散。」
March 15 - Antonio Ecarri B., Ambassador of Venezuela in Spain: "Taiwan se alarmó y frenó su expansión." (Taiwan was alarmed and curbed the spread.)

#阿根廷 Argentina 🇦🇷
3/11 ─ 阿根廷國會議員康帕紐利：「台灣是成功控制疫情的模範。」
March 11 - Marcela Campagnoli, National Deputy in Argentina: "Taiwan es un ejemplo de como lo han controlado." (Taiwan is an example of how to control it.)

3/16 ─ 阿根廷國際關係委員會秘書長桑提巴聶茲：「認為威權政府防疫工作做得比民主國家好，這個想法是錯的。台灣、韓國及新加坡做得非常好，他們都是民主國家。」
March 16 - Francisco de Santibañes, Secretary General of the Argentine Council for International Relations: "Sería un error pensar que los gobiernos autoritarios actuaron mejor que las democracias a la hora de controlar el coronavirus. Corea del Sur, Singapur y Taiwán lo hicieron muy bien y son democracias." (It would be a mistake to think that authoritarian governments act better than democracies in curbing the coronavirus. South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan did it very well and they're democracies.)

#哥倫比亞 Colombia🇨🇴
3/12 ─ 哥倫比亞內科醫師學會前主席希尼爾：「看看台灣，從全球確診統計圖表中漸漸消失，並對照其他亞洲國家防疫進展。他們比其他國家聰明嗎？不，是因為他們比較有組織、守紀律！」
March 12 - Juan Senior, ex-president of the Colombian Association of Internal Medicine: "Miren la evolución de Taiwán, desaparece del panorama y como evoluciona la epidemia en países asiáticos. Son más inteligentes que todos? No, son más organizados y disciplinados!!!" (Look how things have gone in Taiwan, they're out of the picture now and how the epidemic has developed in asian countries. Are they smarter than everyone else? No, they're more organized and more disciplined!!!)

#巴拿馬 Panama 🇵🇦
3/11 ─ 巴拿馬前駐台大使馬締斯：「台灣向世界展現，他們運用2003年抗煞所學到的經驗，準備好對抗新冠疫情。」
March 11 - Dr. Alfredo Martiz, former Ambassador of Panama in Taiwan: "Lo que Taiwán puede enseñar al mundo sobre la lucha contra el coronavirus Análisis: Taiwán aprovechó las lecciones aprendidas durante el brote de SARS de 2003, y esta vez su gobierno y su pueblo estaban preparados" (What Taiwan can teach the world about the fight against the coronavirus. Analysis: Taiwan took the lessons learned during the SARS outbreak of 2003 and this time its government and its people were ready.)

《歐洲》

#捷克 Czech Republic🇨🇿
3/15 ─ 捷克總理巴比斯：「政府決定改變中央危機應變中心的定位及人員調度，仿照如同媒體所報導台灣的因應做法。」 March 15 - Prime Minister Andrej Babis: “The government decided to change the status of the Central Crisis Staff, where the crisis staff will be modeled, as we read in the media and it was in Taiwan.”

#丹麥 Denmark🇩🇰
3/18 ─ 丹麥前總理拉斯穆森：「台灣利用大數據、透明、由中央指揮的防疫作為奏效，值得世界各國學習。現在是時候告訴中國，確有地方可以討論地緣政治的，但不是在世界衛生組織。」 March 18 - In his March 18 piece in Time Magazine, former prime minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen, stated "After the first notifications at the end of 2019, Taipei swiftly deployed a combination of measures to identify and contain the virus, including the use of big data to help contain potential cases."

#法國 France🇫🇷
3/5 ─ 前法國衛生部長及外交部長杜斯特：「檢視中央集權與非中央集權國家決策模式的差異十分有意思。台灣雖緊鄰中國卻可能是受武漢肺炎死亡率最低及受影響最輕的國家，其防疫成果完全令人難以置信，是為出色的危機管理。」
March 5 - Former French health and foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said, "Ce qui est très intéressant en regardant les différents pays, c’est la centralisation ou la non-centralisation des décisions. Et on s’aperçoit que par exemple Taiwan est probablement le pays où il y a le moins de létalité et le pays le moins touché alors que c’est extrêmement près de la Chine. Le résultat est absolument invraisemblable. C’est une magnifique gestion de crise." (What is quite interesting with different countries, is centralization vs non-centralization of decisions. And one realizes that, for example, Taiwan is probably the country where the mortality rate is the lowest and the least affected country despite its extreme proximity to China. The result is absolutely implausible. It’s wonderful crisis management.)

3/7 ─ 法國國民議會友臺小組主席瑟賽希尼：「臺灣是處理武漢肺炎疫情的典範。」
March 7 - The chair of the French National Assembly's France-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, Jean François Cesarini, stated "Taïwan : Exemplaire dans sa gestion de l’épidémie du Coronavirus." (Taiwan: an excellent model for the management of the coronavirus epidemic.)

3/6 ─ 法國國民議會友臺小組副主席拉赫迪耶：「臺灣堪稱處理武漢肺炎危機的典範。」
March 6 - The deputy chair of the French National Assembly's France-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, Laure de La Raudière, stated "Gestion exemplaire de Taiwan de la crise du Coronavirus." (Taiwan's exemplary management of the coronavirus crisis.)

#義大利 Italy🇮🇹
3/16 ─ 義大利前外交部長德爾其：「台灣可能是第一個向WHO報告新冠病毒人傳人的國家，而且早在中國和WHO承認之前。顯然地，台灣因為北京施壓，被排除在世衛組織之外已有兩年之久。」
March 16 - Former foreign minister, Giulio Terzi: "Taiwan potrebber esser stato primo Paese a comunicare alla OMS che coronavirus COVID19 si stava trasmettendo da uomo a uomo.Molto prima che Cina e OMS lo ammettessero. Ovviamente, per volere Pechino, Taipei subisce esclusione da OMS da due anni." (Taiwan may have been the first country to report to WHO that coronavirus COVID19 was spreading from amongst humans, long before China and WHO admitted it. Obviously, at the behest of Beijing, Taipei has been excluded from WHO for two years.)

3/19 ─ 義大利北聯黨外交事務首席法拉利，轉推蔡總統「台美簽署防疫聯合夥伴關係聲明」推文：「這是向中國，也是向世界傳達的重要訊息。」
March 19: Lega Nord head of foreign affairs in Lombardy, Max Ferrari: "Coronavirus. Importante messaggio alla Cina e al mondo da Taiwan e Usa." (Coronavirus. Important message to China and the world from Taiwan and the USA.)

#歐盟 EU🇪🇺
3/14 ─ 歐洲議會議員暨中國關係代表團團長包瑞翰：「在這次疫情危機中，台灣在拯救生命方面做得很好。為什麼不邀請他們充分參與國際呢？ 為什麼WHO不這樣做？因為北京玩弄民族主義政治，犧牲人民的利益。」
March 14 - “Taiwan is doing a great job with saving lives in this corona crisis. Why not acknowledge that and invite them to participate fully in international efforts? Why doesn't WHO do it? Because Beijing is playing nationalist politics at people's expense,” said Reinhard Bütikofer

#英國 UK 🇬🇧
3/13 ─ 英國前衛生大臣杭特表示，政府應採取更積極的行動，包括禁止探視養老院的長者。他認為，英國應該像是泰國和台灣等已控制住疫情的國家一樣，採取行動。
March 13 - Jeremy Hunt, the UK former health secretary: "Countries like Thailand and Taiwan had controlled the outbreak by taking such action. People will be concerned we are not moving sooner on social distancing."

#瑞典 Sweden🇸🇪
2/18 ─ 瑞典國會議員溫和黨主席席德斐：「從長遠來看，世衛組織不願將台灣納入扼止新冠病毒傳播及由該病毒所引起的傳播的任務，是完全站不住腳的，並且從很多面向來看是適得其反，例如從醫學和經濟角度。」
Feb. 18 - Moderate Party MP Margareta Cederfelt pointed out that “WHO’s unwillingness to include Taiwan in its work with limiting the spread of the coronavirus and stopping infections caused by the virus in the long-run, is indefensible and counterproductive seen from several perspectives, for example from a medical and economic perspective.”

#德國 Germany🇩🇪
3/13 ─ 德國自民黨主席國會議員布本多弗：「有一個國家在抗疫上脫穎而出，運用明確的策略及冷靜的態度有效對抗新冠肺炎，這個國家就是臺灣。」
March 13 - Chair of the district association Mühldorf am Inn of the FDP Bavaria Sandra Maria Bubendorfe: "Bei meiner 3. Rede im Deutschen Bundestag zum Thema Zivil und Katastrophenschutz in Deutschland vergangen Freitag, war es mir ein besonderes Bedürfnis Taiwan hervorzuheben, das gezeigt hat wie man mit klaren Strategien und kühlen Kopf auf die Gefahr des Corona Virus antworten kann und damit die Ausbreitung deutlich erschwert und verlangsamt wird." (During my third speech in the German Bundestag on civil and civil protection in Germany last Friday, I felt a need to highlight Taiwan, which showed how to respond to the dangers of the coronavirus with a clear strategy and a cool head, and thus significantly slowed its spread.)

#荷蘭 The Netherlands🇳🇱
3/18 ─ 荷蘭前中央銀行主席維林克：「臺灣防疫預警作為，是這個擁有約2400萬居民，且每年接受約300萬中國旅客往訪的國家，迄今得以有效控制疫情的關鍵作為。」
March 18 - The former head of the Dutch central bank stated that with its 24 million strong population and 3 million annual tourists from China, Taiwan has unrolled effective key measures to curb the spread of the epidemic.

3/18 ─ 荷蘭50 Plus黨眾議員兼主席克羅及民主論壇黨眾議員兼主席伯德特：「台灣是成功例子」 無黨籍眾議員哈加：「台灣大量檢測與居家隔離，成功控制疫情，為何荷蘭不學習？」
March 18 - The leaders of the 50PLUS party and the Forum for Democracy, Henk Krol and Thierry Beaudet, stated that Taiwan has provided a successful model. Independent Dutch MP Wybren van Haga stated that Taiwan has been testing on a large scale and enforcing home quarantines, successful measures in curbing the epidemic and asked why the Netherlands wasn't learning from their example.

#瑞士 Switzerland 🇨🇭
3/10 ─ 瑞士國會下議員瓦爾德：「臺灣對抗新冠病毒具特別成效。」 March 10 - Swiss National Councillor Nicolas Walder said Taiwan's response to the novel coronavirus has been particularly effective.

#葡萄牙 Portugal🇵🇹
3/15 ─ 葡萄牙前人民黨黨揆暨資深媒體評論家波塔斯：「台灣承襲2003年對抗SARS經驗，成功壓抑疫情曲線峰值，值得葡國作為借鏡。」
March 15 - Former Deputy Prime Minister of Portugal and media personality Paulo Portas stated that Taiwan's experience in fighting SARS in 2003 allowed it to be successful in flattening the curve, providing a model Portugal can learn from.

3/18 ─ 葡萄牙國會友臺小組歐利維拉：「台灣病例出現雖早，卻在努力下獲得很好的控制，台灣防疫措施值得肯定及學習。」
March 18 - Chair of the Portugal-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group Paulo Rios de Oliveira stated that although cases in Taiwan started to appear quite early on, they've controlled it very well with a lot of effort. Taiwan's epidemic control measures should be praised and studied.

#西班牙 Spain🇪🇸
3/13 ─ 西班牙前國會議員瓦紐費瑞：「這些措施證明台灣公衛模式有效，包括世界上最先進的醫衛系統、自2003年抗煞以來所累積的廣泛防疫經驗等。」
March 13 - Francisco Vañó Ferre, a former member of the Spanish Parliament: "Estas y otras medidas prueban la eficacia del modelo sanitario de Taiwán, que cuenta con uno de los más avanzados sistemas de salud del mundo y con amplia experiencia en la lucha contra enfermedades contagiosas tras haber sufrido la epidemia del SARS en 2003." (These and other measures prove the efficacy of the health model of Taiwan, which has one of the most advanced health systems in the world and a wealth of experience in the fight against contagious diseases, after having suffered from the SARS epidemic in 2003.)

#匈牙利 Hungary🇭🇺
3/15 ─ 匈牙利醫師學會：「在中國其他省份和其他亞洲國家，例如台灣和新加坡等，已經能夠預防感染的傳播。」
March 15 - The Hungarian Medical Chamber stated “In other provinces of China and other Asian countries (eg Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore) have been able to prevent the spread of the infection.”

北美：
#美國 US🇺🇸
2/5 ─ 美國前衛生部長派司：「台灣已經證明其防疫行動極為負責且透明，特別是在醫學和科學領域。最近有幸到訪台灣，台灣協助研發疫苗或以其他方式協助拯救生命，並促進人類對抗病毒的能力及情報，此刻尤顯出色。」
Feb. 5 – US former secretary of health and human services Tom Price: "Taiwan has shown itself to be extremely responsible and transparent in its actions, especially in the area of medicine and science. Having had the privilege of visiting recently, the capacity of Taiwan to help formulate a vaccine or assist in other ways to help save lives and advance human engagement and intelligence at this time is remarkable."

#加拿大 Canada🇨🇦
3/6 ─ 加拿大前國務部長契爾格：「將台灣排除在世衛組織之外，會讓新冠病毒對其國民和世界其他地區變得更加危險。」
March 6 - Canadian former secretary of state David Kilgour: “Excluding Taiwan from contact with WHO makes COVID-19 more dangerous for its nationals and the rest of the world.”

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My sister, Michelle-Ann Iking's 3% chance of conceiving naturally was a success! Here's her story:

(My apologies as I've been overwhelmed with personal matters. I've only managed to get to my desk. So finally got around posting this).

This is the story behind my sister's pregnancy struggle and how she shared her journey over her Facebook page.

Because some may have not caught her LIVE session chat with me (https://www.facebook.com/daphneiking/videos/687743128744960/) , or read her lengthy post (as it's a private page);
she's allowed me to copy and paste it over my wall, in case you need to know more about her thought process on how AND why she focused on the 3% success probability. Read on.

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Posted 10th May 2020.
FB Credit: Michelle-Ann Iking

A week ago today I celebrated becoming a mother to our second, long awaited child.

Please forgive this mother's LONG (self-indulgent) post, journalling what this significant milestone has meant for her personally, for her own fallible memory's sake as well as maybe to share one day with her son.

If all you were wondering was whether I had delivered and if mum and bub are OK, please be assured the whole KkLM family are thriving tremendously, and continue scrolling right along your Newsfeed 😁.

OUR 3% MIRACLE

All babies are miracles... and none more so than our precious Kiaen Aaryan (pronounced KEY-n AR-yen), whose name derives from Sanskrit origins meaning:

Grace of God
Spiritual
Kind
Benevolent

...words espousing the gratitude Kishore and I feel for Kiaen's arrival as our "3% miracle".

He was conceived, naturally, after 3 years of Kishore and I hoping, praying and 'endeavoring'... and only couples for whom the objective switches from pure recreation to (elusive) procreation will understand how this is less fun than it sounds ...

3 years during which time we had consensus from 3 different doctors that we, particularly I (with my advancing age etc etc) had only a 3% chance of natural conception and that our best hope for a sibling for our firstborn, Lara Anoushka, was via IVF.

Lara herself was an 'intervention baby', being one of the 20% of babies successfully conceived through the less intrusive IUI process, after a year and a half of trying naturally and already being told then my age was a debilitating factor.

We had tried another round of IUI for her sibling in 2017 when Lara was a year old. And that time we fell into the ranks of the 80% of would-be parents for whom it would be an exercise in futility... who would go home, comfort each other as best they could, while individually masking their own personal disappointment... hoping for the best, 'the next time around'...

So the improbability ratio of 97% against natural conception of our second baby, as concurred by the combined opinion of 3 medical professionals, was a very real, very daunting figure for us to have to mentally deal with.

Deep, DEEP, down in my heart however, though I had many a day of doubt... I kept a core kernel of faith that somehow, I would again experience the privilege of pregnancy, and again, have a chance at childbirth.

And so, the optimist in me would tell myself, "Well, there have to be people who fall in the 3% bucket... why shouldn't WE be part of the 3%?"

Those who know me well, understand my belief in the Law of Attraction, the philosophy of focusing your mind only on what you want to attract, not on what you don't want, and so even as Kishore and I prepared to go into significant personal debt to attempt IVF in the 2nd half of 2019, I marshalled a last ditch effort to hone in on that 3% chance of natural conception... through research coming across fertility supplements that I ordered from the US and sent to a friend in Singapore to redirect to me because the supplier would not deliver to Malaysia.

I made us as a couple take the supplements in the 3 month 'priming period' in the lead up to the IVF procedure - preconditioning our bodies for optimum results, if you will.

At the same time, I had invested in a sophisticated fertility monitor, with probes and digital sensors for daily tracking of saliva and other unmentionable fluid samples, designed to pinpoint with chemical accuracy my state of fertility on any given day.

(UPDATE: For those interested - I obtained the supplements and Ovacue Fertility Monitor from https://www.fairhavenhealth.com/. Though I had my supplies delivered to a friend in Singapore, and redirected to me here since the US site does not deliver to Malaysia, there are local distributors for these products, you will just have to research the trustworthiness of the vendors yourself...)

I had set an intention - in the 3 months of pre-IVF priming, I would consume what seemed like a pharmacy's worth of supplements, and track fertility religiously... in hopes that somehow, within the 3 month priming period, we would conceive naturally and potentially save ourselves a down payment on a new property... and this was just a projection on financial costs of IVF, not even considering the physical, emotional and mental toll it involves, with no guarantee of a baby at the end of it all...

It was a continuation of an intention embedded even with my first pregnancy, where all the big ticket baby items were consciously purchased for use by a future sibling, in gender neutral colours, in hopes that sibling would be a brother "for a balanced pair", though of course any healthy child would be a welcome blessing.

It was a very conscious determination to always skew my thoughts in service of what the end objective was. For example, when 3+year old Lara would innocently express impatience at not yet having a sibling, at one point suggesting that since we were "taking too long to give her a baby brother/sister", perhaps we should just "go buy a baby from a shop", instead of getting defensive or berating the baby that she herself was, we enlisted Lara's help to pray for her sibling... so in any place of worship, or sacred ground of any kind that we passed thereon, Lara would stop, close her eyes, bow her small head and place her tiny hands together in prayer, reciting earnestly, "Please God, please give me a baby brother or baby sister."

After months and months of watching Lara do this, in the constancy of her childlike chant, Kishore started feeling the pressure of possibly disappointing Lara if her prayer was not answered. Whereas for me, Lara's recitation of her simple wish became like a strengthening mantra, our collective intention imbued with greater power with each repetition, and the goal of a sibling kept very much in the forefront of our minds (hence our calling Lara our 'project manager' in this endeavour).

And somehow in the 2nd month of that 3 month period, a positive + sign appeared on one of the home pregnancy tests I had grown accustomed to taking - my version of the lottery tickets others keep buying in hopes of hitting the jackpot, with all the cyclical anticipation and more often than not, disappointment, that entails...

This time however I was not disappointed.

With God's Grace, (hence 'Kiaen', a variation of 'Kiaan' which means 'Grace of God'), my focus on our joining the ranks of the 3% had materialised.

It seems poetic then, that Kiaen chose to make his appearance on the 3rd May, ironically the same date that his paternal great-grandfather departed this world for the next... such that in the combined words of Kishore and his father Kai Vello Suppiah,

"The 1st generation Suppiah left on 3rd May and the 4th generation Suppiah arrived on 3rd May after 41yrs...
One leaves, another comes, the legacy lives on..."

***

KIAEN AARYAN SUPPIAH'S BIRTH STORY

On Sunday 3rd May, I was 40 weeks and 5 days pregnant.

The baby was, in my mind, very UN-fashionably late past his due date of 29th April, so as much as I had willed and 'manifested' the privilege of pregnancy, to say I was keen to be done with it all was an understatement.

In the weeks leading to up to my full term, I had experienced increasingly intense Braxton-Hicks 'practice contractions' - annoying for me for the discomfort involved, stressful for Kishore who was on tenterhooks with the false alarms, on constant alert for when we would actually need to leave home for the hospital.

Having become a Hypnobirthing student and advocate from my first pregnancy with Lara, and thus being equipped with
(1) a lack of fear about childbirth in general and
(2) a basic understanding of how all the sensations I would experience fit into the big picture of my body bringing our baby closer to us,
I was less stressed - content to wait for the baby to be "fully cooked" and come out whenever he was ready... though I wouldn't have minded at all if the cooking time ended sooner, rather than later.

With Lara, I had been somewhat 'forced' into an induced labour, even though she was not yet due, and that had resulted in a 5 DAY LABOUR, a Birth Story for another post, so I was not inclined to chemically induce labour, even though I was assured that for second time mothers, it would be 'much faster and easier'...

That morning, I had a hunch *maybe* that day was the day, because in contrast to previous weeks' sensations of tightening, pressure and even spasms that were concentrated in the front of my abdomen and occasionally shot through my sides and legs, I felt period - like cramping in my lower back which I had not felt before throughout the pregnancy.

It was about 8am in the morning then, and my 'surges' were still relatively mild ('surges' being Hypnobirthing - speak for 'contractions', designed to frame them with the more positive connotations needed to counteract common language in which childbirth is presented as something that is unequivocally painful and traumatic, instead of the miraculous, powerful and natural phenomenon it actually is).

I recall (masochistically?) entertaining the thought of opting NOT to have an epidural JUST TO SEE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE...

I figured this would be the last time I would be pregnant and so it would be my 'last chance' to experience 'drug free labour' which, apart from the health benefits for baby and mother, might be *interesting* in a way that people who are curious about what getting a tattoo and skydiving and bungee jumping are like, might find these *interesting*...even knowing there will be pain and risk involved...

Since I have tried tattoos and skydiving (unfortunately not being able to squeeze in bungee-jumping while my life was purely my own to risk at no dependents' possible detriment) a similar curiousity about a no-epidural labour was on my mind...

In the absence of other signs of the onset of labour (like 'bloody show' or my waters breaking), I wanted to wait until the surges were coming every few minutes before we actually left the house for the hospital, not wanting to be one of those couples who rushed in too early and had interminable waits for the next stage in unfamiliar, clinical surroundings and/or were made to go home in an anti-climatic manner.

I was even calm enough through my surges to have the presence of mind to wash and blowdry my hair, knowing if I did deliver soon I would not be allowed this luxury for a while.

Around 9am I asked Kishore to prep for Lara and himself to be dressed and breakfasted so we could head to hospital soon, while I sent messages to family members on both sides informing them 'today might be the day.'

My mother, who had briefly served as a midwife before going back into general nursing and then becoming a nursing tutor, prophetically stated that if what I was experiencing was true labour, "the baby would be out by noon".

The pace in which my surges grew closer together was surprisingly quicker than I expected; and while I asked Lara to "Hurry up with breakfast" with only a tad more urgency than we normally tell her to do, little Missy being prone to dilly-dallying at meals, I probably freaked Kishore out when about 930am onwards, I had to instinctively get on my hands and knees a couple of times, eyes closed, trying to practice the Hypnobirthing breathing techniques I had revised to help along the process of my body birthing our child into the world.

I recall him saying a bit frantically as I knelt at our front door, doubled over as he waited for Lara to complete something or other, "Lara hurry up! Can't you see Mama is in so much pain and you are taking your own sweet time??!!"

SIDETRACK: Just the night before, Lara and I had watched a TV show in which a woman gave birth with the usual histrionics accompanying pop culture depictions of labour.

Lara watched the scene, transfixed.

I told her, simply and matter-of-factly, "That's what Mama has to do to get baby brother out Lara, and that's what I had to do for you also."

In most of interactions with my daughter, I have sought to equip her to face life's situations with calmness, truthful common sense, and ideally a minimum of drama.

Those who know the dramatic diva that Lara can be will know that this is a work-in-progress, but her response to me that night showed me some of my 'teachings' were sinking in:

She looked at me unfazed, "But Mama," she said. "You won't cry and scream like that lady, right? You will be BRAVE and stay calm, right?"
#nopressure.

So as we prepped to leave for the hospital I did indeed attempt to be that role model of calm for her, asking her only for her help in keeping very quiet,
"Because Mama needs to focus on bringing baby brother out and she needs quiet to concentrate...".

As we left the house at 10.11am, I texted Kishore's sister Geetha to please prep to pick up Lara from the hospital, and was grateful Kishore had the foresight to ask our gynae to prepare a letter for Geetha to show any police roadblocks between my in-laws' home in Subang Jaya and the hospital in Bangsar, this all happening under the Movement Control Order (MCO).

To Lara's credit, in the journey over to the hospital, she - probably sensing the gravity of the situation, sat very quietly in her seat at the back, and the silence was punctuated only by my occasional deep intakes of breath and some variation of my Ohmmm-like moans when the sensations were at their height.

By the time we got to Pantai Hospital at around 10.30am, my surges were strong enough I requested a wheelchair to assist me in getting to the labour ward, as I did not trust my own legs to support me... and Kishore would have to wait until Geetha had arrived to take Lara back to my in-laws' house before he himself could go up.

I slumped in the wheelchair and was wheeled up to the labour room with my eyes closed the whole time, trying to handle my surges.

I didn't even look up to see the attendant who pushed me... but did make the effort to thank him sincerely when he handed me over, with what seemed like a palpable sense of relief on his part, to the labour ward nurses.

The nurse attending me at Pantai was calm, steady and efficient. I answered some questions and changed into my labour gown while waiting for Kishore to come up, all the while managing the increasingly intense surges with my rusty Hypnobirthing breathing techniques.

By the time Kishore joined me at around 11am (I know these timings based on the timestamps of the 'WhatsApp live feed' of messages Kishore sent to his family), I was asking the nurse on duty, "How soon can I get an epidural??" thinking what crazy woman thought she could do this without drugs???!!!

The nurse checked my cervix dilation, I saw her bloodied glove indicating my mucous plug had dislodged, and she told me, "Well you are already at 7cm (which, for the uninitiated, is 70% of the way to the 10cm dilation needed for birthing), you are really doing well, if you made it this far without any drugs, if can you try and manage without it... I suspect within 2 hours or less you will deliver your baby and since it will take about that time for the anaesthesiologist to be called, epidural to be administered and kick in... it might all be for nothing... but of course the decision is completely up to you... "

So there I was, super torn, should I risk the sensations becoming worse... or risk the epidural becoming a waste?? And of course I was trying to decide this as my labour surges were coming at me stronger and stronger...

I was in such a dilemma...because as a 'recovering approval junkie' there was also a silly element of approval-seeking involved, ("The nurse thinks I can do this without drugs... maybe I CAN do this without drugs... Yay me!") mixed with that element of curiosity I mentioned earlier ("What if I actually CAN do this without drugs... plenty of other women have done it all over the world since time immemorial.. no big deal, how bad can it be...??") so then I thought I would use the financial aspect to be the 'tiebreaker' in my decision making...

I asked the nurse how much an epidural would cost and when she replied "Around MYR1.5k", I still remember Kishore's incredulous face as I asked the question, i.e."Seriously babe, you are gonna think about money right now? If you need the epidural TAKE IT, don't worry about the money!!!"... and while we are not rich by any stretch of the imagination, thankfully RM1.5k is not a quantum that made me swing towards a decision to "better save the money"...

So in the end, I guess my curiosity won out, and I turned down the epidural "just to see what it would be like and if I had it in me" (in addition of course to avoiding the side effects of any drugs introduced into my and the baby's body).

My labour occuring in the time of coronavirus, it was protocol for me to have a COVID19 test done, so the medical staff could apply the necessary precautions. I had heard from a friend Sharon Ruba that the test procedure was uncomfortable, so when the nurse came with the test kit as I was starting another surge, I asked, "Please can I just finish this surge before I do the test?" as I really didn't think I could multitask tackling multiple uncomfortable sensations in one go.

The COVID19 test involved what felt like a looong, skinny cotton bud being inserted into one nostril... I definitely felt more than a tickle as it went in and up, being told to take deep breaths by the nurse. Then she asked me to "Try to swallow" and I felt it go into my nasal cavities where I didn't think anything could go any further, but was proven wrong when she asked me to swallow again and the swab was probed even deeper. Then she warned me there would be some slight discomfort as she prepared to collect a sample... but at that point all I could think about was:

(i) I really don't have much of a choice
(ii) please let this be over before my next surge kicks in
(iii) if all the people breaking the MCO rules knew what it feels like to do this test maybe they won't put themselves at risk of the need to perform one...

In full disclosure as I was transferred into the actual delivery room at some point after 11am, another nurse offered me 'laughing gas' to ostensibly take some of the edge off... I took the self-operated breathing nozzle passed to me but don't recall it making any difference to my sensations..so didn't use it much as it seemed pretty pointless.

I recall some measure of relief when I heard my gynae Dr. Paul entering the room, greeting Kishore and me, and telling us it was going well and it wouldn't be long now and he would see us again shortly.

From my previous labour with Lara I knew the midwives pretty much take you 90% of the way through the labour and when the Dr is called in you are really at the home stretch, so was very relieved to hear his voice though knowing he would leave and come back later meant it wasn't quite over yet.

I do remember realising when I had crossed the Thinning and Opening Phase of labour to the Birthing Phase, by the change in sensations... it is still amazing to me that as the Hypnobirthing book mentioned, having this knowledge I was instinctively able to switch breathing techniques for the next stage of labour .

Was my opting against epidural the right choice for me?

Overall? Yes.

Don't get me wrong.

I *almost* regretted the decision several times during active labour... especially when I felt my body being taken over by an overwhelming compulsion to push that did not seem conscious and was accompanied by involuntary gutteral moans where I literally just thought to myself, "I surrender, God do with me what you will..." (super dramatic I know but VERY real at the time...).

I think I experienced 3-4 such natural explusive reflexes (?), rhythmically pushing the baby down the birth path, one of which was accompanied by what felt like a swoosh of water coming out of a hose with a diameter the size of a golf ball... this was when I realised my water had finally broken...

The nurses kept instructing me to do different things, to keep breathing, to move to my side, then to move to the middle, to raise my feet... and when I didn't comply, Kishore (who was with me throughout both my labours) tried to help them by repeating the instructions prefaced with "Sayang..." but I basically ignored all the intructions because I felt I had no capacity to direct any part of my body to do anything and someone else would have to physically manoeuvre that body part themselves.

When I heard Dr. Paul's voice again and the flurry of commotion surrounding his presence, I knew the time was close... and when I heard the nurse say to Kishore, "Sir, these are your gloves, for when you cut the baby's cord", it was music to my ears...

I'm very, VERY grateful Kiaen slid out after maybe the 4th of those involuntary pushes... the wave of RELIEF when he came out so quickly... it still boggles my mind that my mother was essentially right and as his birth time was 12.02pm, it was *only* about 1.5 hours between our arrival at the hospital and his arrival into the world.

Kiaen was placed on my chest for skin to skin bonding and remained there for a considerable time.

For our short stay in the hospital he would be with us in my maternity ward number C327... another trivially serendipitous sign for me because he was born on the 3rd (May) and our wedding anniversary is 27th (July).

I was discharged the following day 4th May at about 5.30pm, after I got an all clear on COVID19 and a paediatric surgeon did a small procedure on Kiaen to address a tongue-tie that would affect his breastfeeding latch... making the entire duration of our stay about 31 hours.

I have taken the time and effort to record all this down so that whenever life's challenges threaten to get me down I can remind myself, "Ignore the 97% failure probability, focus on the 3% success probability".

Also that the human condition is miraculous and it is such a privilege to experience it.

To our son Kiaen Aaryan, thank you for coming into our lives and choosing us as your parents.

Even though Papa and I are both zombies trying to settle into a night time feeding routine with you, I look forward to spending not only all future Mother's Days, but every day, with you and your Akka...

And last but not least, to my husband Kishore...without whom none of this would be possible - we did it sayang, I love you ❤️

Photo credit: Stayhome session with Samantha Yong Photography (http://samanthayong.com/)