關於 us post tracking ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

Mentor #71 học kinh tế vẫn làm bên phát triển sản phẩm phần mềm & lời khuyên cho những ai muốn bắt chéo làm nghề này.

Dì gửi contact của mentor Hiếu https://www.linkedin.com/in/vhieunguyen/
Post này là dì dành cho Hiếu nên phần reply thắc mắc post này là của Hiếu <3
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nghề làm product là sao?

Nghề chọn người nên mình chọn để cái nghề nó rớt vào mình

Tính ra mình đã làm cái nghề “Phát triển sản phẩm phần mềm” này được hơn 4 năm rồi. Cái nghề này người ngoài nhìn vào, người trong nhìn ra đều không biết mình làm gì hàng ngày. Chỉ có thể đánh giá công việc của mình bằng chính sự thành công của cái sản phẩm mà mình phát triển. Và ai cũng nghĩ, làm nghề này thì phải học CNTT, hoặc chí ít phải là Marketing ra. Nầu, hãy để mình, 1 thằng thạc sĩ Kinh tế (dởm) kể cho bạn nghe về cái nghề mà dân trong ngành hay gọi là “Làm Product”.

Mình học ở Anh từ 2009 đến đầu năm 2016 thì về nước với cái bằng Thạc sĩ Kinh tế loại vừa đủ đậu. Bạn bè học trong nước đứa đã đi làm, đứa thì có gia đình, đứa vẫn sáng ở Sài Gòn, tối bắt xe đi Đà Lạt. Còn bạn bè cùng đi học nước ngoài về thì kéo nhau vào làm ngân hàng lớn, công ty nước ngoài, công ty gia đình, v.v. Mình thì lúc đó còn lơ ngơ láo ngáo nhưng cũng rất muốn đi làm. Nhưng mà khùng điên sao mình lại không muốn làm ngành đã học mà lại muốn làm trái ngành. May quá quan hệ rộng sao có đứa bạn giới thiệu cho phỏng vấn với EY. Tất nhiên là rớt cái bẹp vì mình ứng tuyển vào làm kiểm toán dù không học 1 chữ kiểm toán nào. Họ chỉ gọi đi phỏng vấn vì thấy học nước ngoài về thôi. Sau đó được Nielsen Vietnam nhận vào làm trainee cho team Consumer Insights Client services cho nhóm khách hàng mảng ngân hàng, tài chính. Muốn làm trái ngành lắm mà cũng bắt đầu là làm (gần với) ngành mình học.

Làm hết 6 tháng traineeship thì mình chán phát ngấy. Vừa hết 6 tháng trainee, dù lúc đó có ôm 5-7 project vào người, bạn muốn có tương lai ở đó thì phải có headcount (slot làm việc chính thức được cấp trên duyệt)

Mấy ngày sau, đang ngồi làm mấy cái bài test về tính cách, định hướng nghề nghiệp đồ thì được bên Zalo mời phỏng vấn. Chị Talent Acquisition (TA) của Zalo này lại làm cùng đợt với mình ở Nielsen. Vậy là mình được toại nguyện làm trái ngành, với công việc đầu tiên trong ngành Tech là đi làm Business Development. Công việc chính là đi tìm những doanh nghiệp lớn trong nước, từ nhà nước tới tư nhân, để đấu nối hệ thống và tạo ra Zalo Official Account cho họ, để họ có thể cung cấp những dịch vụ của mình thẳng qua Zalo và tiếp cận hàng chục triệu người dùng trên nền tảng này và tiết kiệm chi phí bỏ ra cho SMS.
Mình nắm những account khá khủng, có cả FE Credit, Lazada và Tổng công ty Điện lực Miền Nam. Công việc chính là sắp xếp gặp lãnh đạo các phòng ban như Marketing, IT, thậm chí là CEO để giới thiệu về giải pháp của Zalo cho doanh nghiệp. Lúc đó chân ướt chân ráo, về tech chỉ biết làm mỗi word, excel, powerpoint, photoshop, mà cũng tự học và học lóm được các anh chị đồng nghiệp về REST API, về user journey, SQL, lập trình website (các tool dữ liệu). Mình đi gặp khách hàng có thể hùng hồn nói về tích hợp hệ thống qua API, về cách vận hành, tiếp cận khách hàng đang có và khách hàng tiềm năng qua Zalo.

Mình còn được may mắn làm luôn cả vai trò của 1 Business Analyst. Tức là mình sẽ gặp và nhận yêu cầu cả về mặt kinh doanh lẫn về kỹ thuật từ phía đối tác. Sau đó viết lại những yêu cầu đó thành những user stories, tức là những văn bản kỹ thuật, để đội ngũ phát triển có thể thực hiện. Tự bơi là chính, tự đi hỏi han, tự tìm đối tác là chủ yếu, và quan trọng nhất là phải tự tìm ra hướng giải quyết vấn đề khi sản phẩm chưa đáp ứng được nhu cầu của đối tác. Ví dụ như EVN thì chỉ cần bắn tin bằng chữ để báo tiền điện thôi nhưng Lazada thì phải làm được nhiều hơn, mở web, tin nhắn tương tác phức tạp được để chạy campaign.

Ở Zalo mình làm việc với khá nhiều team (lập trình, hệ thống, dữ liệu, marketing, PR) để làm ra được cái đối tác cần và cái người dùng muốn thấy.
Thời gian ở Zalo là bước đệm rất quan trọng để mình được tiếp cận với cái nghề product. Sau 1 thời gian làm BD thì team của mình bị giải thể, và mình được cho sang làm sản phẩm của ZingMP3. Cụ thể là làm sản phẩm ZingMP3 VIP. Nghe thì ngon ăn vậy chứ suốt cả thời gian đó mình không được 1 cái account ZingMP3 VIP nào, nhưng ngày nào cũng phải vào nhìn cái trang web, tìm xem có điểm nào được và chưa được. Chỗ nào chưa làm cho người dùng muốn bấm mua ngay, hay các bước mua dài quá có làm ngắn lại được không. Phải tự nghiên cứu cách người Hàn, người Nhật, người Trung Quốc, US-UK bán nhạc và bán gói subscription dịch vụ nghe nhạc. Lúc đó phải học về marketing và growth hack nhiều, đồng thời phải học cách sử dụng Google Analytics, Google Adwords, chạy SEO các kiểu. Tất cả mọi chức năng làm ra đều phải gắn tracking. Có những hôm anh head of growth gọi hẳn vào phòng giám đốc ngồi giải thích số liệu cho ảnh, xung quanh toàn các anh lãnh đạo của Zalo, cũng run lắm, nói bậy chút là bị các anh ấy mắng ngay.

Sau đó mình còn được làm Product Owner, tức là chịu trách nhiệm hoàn toàn 1 sản phẩm mới toanh ở Zalo cho thị trường Myanmar. Tuy nhiên, lúc cái app của mình sắp được tung ra thì mình lại thấy chán, vì team cũ đã nghỉ hết mà team mới cũng không vui. Phần lớn nhất là mình ở khá xa (hơn 10KM từ Bình Thạnh sang quận 11), nên thường đi trễ và bị bắt đóng phạt. Việc đóng phạt đi làm trễ là thứ mình ghét nhất, chứ cũng chẳng phải vì sếp hay team mà mình có thể nghỉ. Kể cả công việc lúc đấy cũng trăm thứ phải học, nào là về phát triển app từ con số 0, đến việc thâm nhập thị trường mới, tới những khái niệm về công nghệ mình chưa từng nghe bao giờ. Nói chung là lúc ấy có chỗ nào ngon hơn là nhảy.
Sau Zalo thì mình nhảy sang một công ty cũng máu mặt trong làng công nghệ ở ĐNA là SEA Group, nhưng mà làm cho 1 startup của SEA Group.
Không phải Shopee vì mình ít săn sales lắm, mà là Ocha. Bạn đi vào quán nước nếu để ý cái máy họ nhập món, in hóa đơn, có cái màn hình có viền màu cam, thì khả năng cao đó chính là máy của Ocha đó. Mà lúc đó chức danh nghe oách lắm nhé, Product Manager cơ. Nhưng mà chẳng quản lý ai cả, quản lý mỗi cái thân mình và cái sản phẩm mình làm. Ai nghe Manager cũng nghĩ là phải làm việc nhiều năm, có lính lác bu quanh mới là Manager. Nhưng không, Product manager thì bạn chỉ quản lý cái sản phẩm của bạn thôi. Lúc mình làm thì có 2 bạn Product Manager khác ở team Singapore đều là sinh viên mới ra trường. Bởi vậy trong ngành CNTT, chức danh là 1 cái gì đó rất ảo diệu.

Trong phát triển phần mềm còn có 1 cái gọi là SCRUM, đại khái là 1 cái cấu trúc đội nhóm mà bạn có thể áp dụng để phát triển hiệu quả hơn. Lúc ở Ocha mình làm sai hết, đến mãi sau này đi học chứng chỉ về Scrum mới nhận ra. Giờ mình cũng đã có cái chứng chỉ Professional Scrum Product Owner 2 vắt vai rồi.
Làm một thời gian thì mình lại nghỉ. Một phần rất lớn là vì làm việc với các bạn Trung Quốc không hợp. Các bạn ấy khá là khó gần, ít chịu lắng nghe và hơi cứng nhắc (mấy bạn làm cùng mình thôi). Ngoài ra, ở team mình cũng có những cái yêu cầu không tên về công việc mà mình khó chấp nhận, ví dụ như phải hỗ trợ sales và CSKH cả thứ 7, Chủ Nhật. Nhưng startup mà, không làm thì lấy đâu mà ăn. Đến lúc đó thì mình xác định là mình không còn hợp cạ với startup.

Bây giờ thì mình đang làm Product Owner cho website VietnamWorks các bạn ạ. Chắc các bạn đang tìm việc đều biết đến. Mình còn quản lý 1 bạn junior nữa. Và bạn ấy cũng phải bơi y như mình ngày xưa, tất nhiên là có mình ngồi cạnh lâu lâu ném cho cái phao cứu sinh.

Bạn thấy đấy, mình chưa từng học nửa chữ công nghệ nào nhưng vẫn có thể làm cái nghề này tận 4 năm, và nó đã trở thành cái sự nghiệp của mình từ đây. Có 1 câu tiếng Anh để chỉ cái nghề này là:”Jack of all trades, master of none”, nghĩa là cái gì cũng biết, nhưng không giỏi cái gì cả. Kỹ năng quan trọng nhất mình tích cóp được qua mấy năm chỉ có mấy cái gạch đầu dòng:

- Giao tiếp: nghề này cần bạn phải giao tiếp rất tốt, rõ ràng, ngắn gọn, và phù hợp đối tượng bạn giao tiếp. Sales có ngôn ngữ của sales, dev có ngôn ngữ của dev và bạn phải thành thục những ngôn ngữ này giống như giỏi tiếng Anh IELTS 8 chấm vậy.

- Marketing và Data analysis: nghiên cứu thị trường, phân tích đối thủ, đọc số liệu, bạn phải rất yêu số, và hiểu số. Số gì thì khi làm sẽ có hàng nghìn con số để bạn nhìn hàng ngày.

- Mắt nhìn sản phẩm: ngày nào bạn cũng quẹt Tinder? Tuyệt, nhưng bạn có biết Tinder có bao nhiêu chức năng, bấm bao nhiêu nút để đăng ký, mất bao nhiêu lâu để mua gói Tinder Gold không? Bạn sẽ phải để ý đến từng chi tiết nhỏ nhất của sản phẩm, và phải hiểu rõ sản phẩm hơn bất kì ai.

- Tình yêu công nghệ: rõ ràng rồi, bạn đang phát triển sản phẩm công nghệ mà.

- Tinh thần sẵn sàng làm mọi thứ: Thực sự nghề này không có 1 cái jd chuẩn nào. Bạn có thể phải làm cả sales, cả marketing, cả operation, thậm chí CSKH. Bất cứ việc gì cần, Product Owner/Manager cũng phải hỗ trợ.
Vậy bắt đầu trở thành 1 “người làm sản phẩm” như thế nào? Nếu bạn không học CNTT, hay làm lập trình viên, bạn vẫn có thể thử sức với những chương trình trainee, vd như Product Management trainee của VNG hàng năm. Udemy, Linkedin Learning có những khóa học gần như A-Z cho bạn dư kiến thức để bắt đầu làm vị trí Product. Nhưng đừng mơ mộng. Sản phẩm của bạn không thể trở thành Facebook tiếp theo, hay đánh bại Tiktok. Hãy làm hài lòng những người dùng sản phẩm của bạn bằng những tính năng thật giá trị, giải quyết được vấn đề họ gặp phải, và sự thành công sớm muộn cũng sẽ đến <3

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.

-------------------------------------------

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/)

Hooray🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

Our postal service (Chunghwa Post) has announced today that Germany is removed from the suspended country list!

All the in stock orders will be sent within the next few working days.
You will receive an e-mail with tracking number after we send it.

Always feel free to contact us for any questions :)
Thank you all and stay safe🙌🏻

第一個單字是 archbishop、a-r-c-h-b-i-s-h-o-p、archbishop 大主教，例句是：The archbishop has strongly criticized Trump.

美國白宮很多人在和平抗議，他們不滿警察亂殺黑人。結果，川普竟然對他們用催淚瓦斯、橡膠子彈，叫他們「讓讓」，我要走到白宮對面的教堂，拍 照。
川普這樣做，惹得大主教森 77，大主教痛批川普，把教堂拿來作秀、拿來騙選票！補充一下什麼是大主教。天主教把整個世界分成一個一個教區，就像台灣被分成一個一個縣市，而每個教區的首長，就是大主教，就像是桃園市長、台南市長這樣。這個大主教就是 archbishop。

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52897303

第二個單字是 liken A to B，liken 是 l-i-k-e-n、liken A to B 意思是：覺得 A 跟 B 很像，例句是：French people has likened the death of Adama Traoré to the killing of George Floyd in the US.

法國也有警察殺黑人。2016 年時，就有黑人被憲兵壓制，之後死亡。這次美國的抗議，掀起了法國人的傷痛跟共鳴，他們覺得，兩位黑人都是被公權力殺死，情況很相似。當你覺得 A 跟 B 很像，就可以說 liken A to B。

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52898262

第三個單字是 Incognito、i-n-c-o-g-n-i-t-o、Incognito 無痕模式，例句是：Google continues to track your internet activity even when you’re in "Incognito" mode.

Google 瀏覽器有個無痕模式，在這個模式下，你搜尋了什麼糟糕的東西，都不會被存下來。欸聽起來不錯耶，可以偷看一下謎片？登登登登，代誌無這簡單！在無痕模式下，你的相關數據還是會被 Google 寄出去！寄給你造訪的網站、你老闆、你學校、或是網路公司。現在就有一件法律事務所，要告上法院，說 Google 的無痕模式騙很大。無痕模式就是 incognito。

https://www.businessinsider.com/google-sued-for-tracking-users-in-incognito-mode-2020-6 https://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/facebook-zuckerberg-disgust-trump-post-george-floyd

第四個單字是 ravage、r-a-v-a-g-e、ravage 蹂躪，例句是：Coronavirus-ravaged Mumbai braces for its first-ever cyclone.

印度的孟買正在努力防疫，結果熱帶氣旋跑來亂！已經有 10 萬人緊急撤離，其中包括武漢肺炎的病人啊。也就是說，病患無法好好隔離耶，真擔心病毒會傳染得更快啊... 孟買被武漢病毒蹂躪，這個蹂躪就是 ravage。

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/cyclone-nisarga-coronavirus-ravaged-mumbai-braces-for-its-first-ever-cyclone-1684682-2020-06-02

最後一個單字是 caremonger、c-a-r-e-m-o-n-g-e-r、caremonger 關懷互助的人，例句是：Caremongers India has helped connect volunteers with the people who most need their help.

印度有個臉書社群，叫做 Caremongers India，意思是「關懷互助的印度人」，這個社群很大愛喔！封城會帶來很多問題嘛，比如說老人家很難取得食物跟藥品，而這個臉書社群就彼此互助、解決問題。這些關懷互助的人，就是 caremonger，而這種散播關懷、散播愛的善良舉動，就是 caremongering。

https://www.positive.news/society/i-was-overwhelmed-by-kindness-from-complete-strangers-the-facebook-group-helping-thousands-of-vulnerable-people-in-india/

簡單複習：archbishop 大主教、liken A to B 覺得 A 跟 B 很像、Incognito 無痕模式、ravage 蹂躪、caremonger 關懷互助的人。

恭喜你！今天學了 5 個新單字，還聽了 5 則國際大事！希望你可以訂閱我們的 podcast，然後為我們留 5 顆星的評價。如果有什麼意見，歡迎留言，也可以到 IG 搜尋賓狗單字，私訊我聊聊喔～謝謝收聽，下次通勤見 ❤️

Phê Phim News: JOHNNY DEPP mới là nạn nhân? | JAMES GUNN trở lại GOTG3 | ENDGAME trailer mới

Chào mừng các bạn đến với Phê Phim News, nơi mà mình nói về những tin tức thú vị nhất trong thế giới điện ảnh tuần vừa rồi. Video hôm nay ngày 16/03 sẽ có những nội dung chính như sau:
____

1. Hé lộ cái tên cho vị trí đạo diễn phim siêu anh hùng Châu Á đầu tiên - Shang Chi
-https://phephim.vn/post/304-He-lo-cai-ten-cho-vi-tri-dao-dien-phim-sieu-anh-hung-chau-A-dau-tien-Shang-Chi
____

2. Tom & Jerry + Sesame Street live-action
-https://www.cbr.com/tom-and-jerry-live-action-movie-april-2021/
-https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/sesame-street-pic-anne-hathaway-lands-winter-2021-release-1194256
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3.Dumbo early reviews
-https://www.slashfilm.com/dumbo-early-buzz/
-https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/dumbo-tracking-50m-60m-us-opening-1193003
___

Điểm tin
Bryan Singer bị đuổi khỏi dự án Red Sonja
https://www.cbr.com/red-sonja-drops-bryan-singer/
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard bổ sung thêm Morgan Freeman và Antonio Banderas vào dàn cast
https://www.slashfilm.com/the-hitmans-wifes-bodyguard-cast-morgan-freeman-antonio-banderas/
Oscar Isaac chia sẻ về dự định phim ảnh cùng tuổi 40
https://www.today.com/video/oscar-isaac-talks-triple-frontier-star-wars-and-turning-40-1456389187766
Đạo diễn Doctor Strange hé lộ về kẻ phản diện phần 2
https://twitter.com/SuperheroPOLL/status/1105705077585502210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1105705077585502210&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbr.com%2Fdoctor-strange-2-namor-sub-mariner-tease%2F
____

4. Diễn biến mới nhất từ vụ kiện Johnny Depp và Amber Heard
-https://phephim.vn/post/319-Dien-bien-moi-tu-vu-kien-Johnny-Depp-Amber-Heard
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Nội dung: Vũ Mạnh Kiên, Bùi Thảo Ngân, thisisleo, @callmehoaianh, @linhvetter
MC: @truong_nn
Voice: @linhvetter, @truong_nn
Editor: @nhancdang

#PhêPhimNews #Số47

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