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July already!

July 10, 2009 at 11:52 am | In AH's mummy, baby AH, pregnancy | 1 Comment

It definitely has been awhile since I last blogged, let alone a proper post. So many things have happened in the past couple of weeks!

If it has not been obvious (haha!), I am now 18 weeks preggers and is still nursing morning sickness, or more like all day sickness. It has been quite bad that I have been prescribed nauseous and gastric pills, or as I like to call it- my happy pills. There are of course times, when even taking those pills make no difference. My nurse told me that it should’ve subsided when I turned 15 weeks like it did when I was pregnant with AH but now, at 18 weeks, I still feel nauseous and throws up at least twice a day.

Whilst my nurse reminded me through my medical notes that I, too, had morning sickness with AH, I did not have to be admitted to the hospital and neither was I on happy pills. I have also gone on medical leave more now (at 4 months), than I did when I was with preggers with AH for the whole 9 months. Oh, have I mentioned that I am still off chocolates and beef? Yes, still. Although not as bad with chocolates anymore but for beef, even the sight of it is enough to make me feel nauseous. Trips to McDs are spent eating chicken or Filet O Fish. How sad is that? No Double Cheeseburgers for me yet

Also, recently, a colleague was tested +ve for H1N1. I was sent to the screening centre as I had spent most of the day before with her and my condition meant that I did not have to wait for a temperature before going to the clinic. We had a meeting till almost 9pm and I sent her home too. Alhamdullilah, I was tested -ve a day after I tested but workwise, our whole unit was shut down as some had to be quarantined. I was worried sick prior to knowing the results as I was worried of infecting my son, IF I was tested +ve.

There have been many discussions, online and IRL, on how we should treat this virus. Many are worried but many, too, are nonchalant. Many said that it is just like a normal flu but as it has been told, it might be deadly to those with underlying chronic illnesses. This is where I put my foot down to those who seem to think that it is just a mild and we should not be worried about it. Say if you have it mild, you might infect someone who has an underlying illness. It might not kill you but it might kill others. So stop being selfish! Be responsible. My colleague hates going to the clinic or the hospital but when she had the flu, she thought she should just go to the clinic, especially since she is sitting next to a pregnant woman.

Besides that, I am still unsure where we as a country is heading on treating the virus. How long are going to try to contain this virus? Or are we going to mitigate it? I think last year we were still filling in forms and had our temp scanned at the airport, right? How long after the bird flu hoo-haa was this? (Do correct me if I am wrong though.) I wonder when will we be able to travel safely (relatively) again.

Enough of that. Hehe.

On AH front, he has been testing my patience a lot lately. He has been very manja and cries when things don’t go his way. Due to the virus, we have not been taking AH out a lot and I think this has ’stresses’ him out. Haha. He is such a social boy and he has probably been craving for activities. When we took him to my Nini’s doa selamat couple of nights ago, he chased his kakas around the house trying to play with them. He was also enjoying the attention he received from my cousins. Besides not being able to go out, my mum thinks he is just being manja because he knows he will have an adek soon. I like to think he is just a mini-me. Manja, whiny and a crybaby. LOL. Definitely takes well after me. Hahahaha.

I think this is a lenghty post already and should make up for my lack os posts lately. Haha. I need to rest now as one of my girlfriends is getting married this afternoon! Weeeeeeeeee! I know we will be in tears, like we always will.

March 26, 2009 at 6:50 am | In AH's mummy, baby AH, breastfeeding, travelling | 1 Comment

It has been awhile since I last posted on breastfeeding! Hehe.

Yes, I am still breastfeeding AH, if you’re wondering but I have to admit that I have been scouting for formula and asking family and friends on the kind of formula they use. However, I cannot bring myself to start supplementing AH yet! LOL. Yes, the mummy is the challenge.

For a few days last week, AH seemed to show a preference for bottled EBM over direct feeding. Once it was in the middle of the night and he kept on pointing out and refusing to direct feed. Being used to just feeding him in bed without having to get out and make (or reheat) milk, I continued to try and feed him directly. Again, he refused and instead, pointed to my water bottle. He was really thirsty!! He had a little bit of water then.

This went on the next day as well, when he kept on pointing his bottle warmer for a feed instead of asking to be direct fed. Mummy was too lazy to reheat and just sort of forced him to direct feed.

I know that were probably signs that he was ready to be weaned off my Bs and start feeding from bottles full-time but we’re going on a 10 days trip soon with a relatively long flight (by long I mean more than his past 2-3 hours trips). I guess you know where I am getting at. Har har har. I would have to pump all the time and feed him from bottles or bring formula, if I was going to supplement. Right now, I much prefer direct feeding- it’s more convenient!

So yes, no weaning off yet. We will try again nanti okay, AH!

I am going to leave you with a picture of AH to wish you a good start to the weekend!

Har har har. No, social services & health advocates, I do not usually feed him chocolate excessively. This is him trying to finish my (already finished but not completely clean cup) B&J Choc Fudge Brownie Ice Cream!

Oh, to be young & without a care in the world! xx

February already?

February 1, 2009 at 8:57 pm | In AH's mummy, breastfeeding | 1 Comment

It is February already!

I haven’t had much time to blog lately and once, I even went through 24 hours without touching my home laptop once! My bosses have decided to bring me into the many projects they are handling on top of what I am already doing. All these with the pressure of trying to lose weight and AH has become more and more attached to me have not been settling well that I once cried in the middle of the night!

All the pressure and somehow, the first thing I thought of tackling was trying to wean AH off completely. I kept on justifying to myself that I have achieved more than I ever thought I would but everytime I thought of it, I felt sad and emotional.

How am I going to handle waking up in the middle of the night to make milk? How am I going to soothe AH whenever he is fussy? How am I going find other ways to bond with him?

I was worried I was going to feel useless because I know that breastfeeding is the only thing that no one can ever take away from both of us. As selfish as it sounds, that is one of the thing that has kept me breastfeeding this long. Whenever I was away, be it at work or overseas, I always made myself felt better by saying that at least AH is feeding my milk. Yes, I am selfish that way. Hee-hee.

Plenty of EBM supply in the freezer (Alhamdullilah!) is not helping as well. When days are long in the office with never ending meetings, I tend to find myself postponing my pumping to much later in the day and I think it was justified as the amount I get at the end of the day from one session is the same as having 2 sessions during the day. I know if this keeps up, my supply will deteriorate.

Yes, I need a kick in the bum. I always find having plenty of EBM makes me a lazy pumper!

So, for February, I am going to make sure I instil more semangat in myself

p.s. there may be less & less entries now. we have plenty of family events going on at the moment. that plus work for february will be a little bit crazy. i am so looking forward to my leave, even it is still months away. har har har.

This and That

July 18, 2008 at 9:46 pm | In AH's mummy, baby AH, breastfeeding, feeding solids, travelling, working mother | 5 Comments

Warning: To make up for lost time, this will be a very lengthy post. Hehe.

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During my last trip, I didn’t make any prior arrangements with the hotel to keep my EBM in their freezer as I was told the hotel is a 5-stars hotel.

As soon as I arrived in my room, I called their In-Room Dining to make arrangements. True, it is a 5-stars hotel but what they have failed to tell me was it’s a relatively new hotel and their service was horrendous! EVERYTIME I called to ask them to collect my EBM, I had to repeat what I wanted over the phone 2-3 times! Once, they came up to my room to return back my EBM despite me telling them that I wanted THEM to collect. I even wrote on the packs my check-out date and time! Another time, I had to wait for more than 20 minutes for them to come up that I resorted to just passing it to them at breakfast! It was exasperating! I even found myself speaking in their language/ slang/ accent just to get my points across.

At the end of my stay, I thought that my stay at Seoul Plaza Hotel was still the best (in terms of handling my EBM).

Where did I go?

Where did I stay?

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The weekend I came back, we took baby AH to the beach with the boys and girls.

Baby AH seemed to enjoy the beach as he was well-behaved! Or he liked being fussed over by the boys and girls. Haha. We didn’t take him to the waters though as I don’t think he is ready for that YET (or kali mummynya yang inda ready. hehe.).

I fed Baby AH before we went to the beach and I brought his biscuits and water just in case. He didn’t ask for any of these as well as milk! Again, I think he was enjoying being fussed over- lapar pun lupa! However, as soon as we got into the car he started crying and asking for a feed! Not long after that, terus tidur! Must be the angin pantai, so nyaman and made him sleepy. Girls, I guess he tahan-ed his ngantuk until dalam kereta. Hehe.

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Besides work (I did my first issuance with help from C & Z- thanks girls!), I got myself a new toy and am loving it! I still have a lot to explore but I love the fact that it has an Eng-Mal dictionary! LOL. Not that I have had a chance to use it yet but the thought of a translator at the tips of your fingers (literally! haha.) is fun! Plus I finally got myself a 3g phone, which is also the first ever phone I have bought with my own money since I started work is also sweeeeeeet! Hehehe.

Which phone?

Photo courtesy of facebook’s E71 group. Hehe.

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The past few days, with most people fasting to make up for missed days last year, it occurred to me that, insya Allah, I will still be feeding AH during Ramadhan this year.

From what I have read, breastfeeding (and pregnant) mothers are allowed NOT to fast if they feel that by fasting, it will have a negative impact on the mother and the baby. I have also read that when a mother fasts, her milk supply will not likely decrease, however, the milk composition might change.

Currently, AH takes 2 meals a day- breakfast and dinner. He usually takes veggies or fruits in the morning followed by 8oz of milk and rice & something else for dinner. During the day his milk intake is now between 16oz – 20oz and I am thinking another 12oz or so in the evening.

I am thinking of introducing lunch to AH soon so he can have a midday meal when Ramadhan comes but I am still contemplating as I understand that milk should still be babies’ main source of food until they turn one (another reason why I don’t stress eating as much yet, merely introducing all kinds of food. hehe.). Alternatively, I am again stocking up my EBM just in case supply runs low (despite research said it shouldn’t. hehe.). Plus, I am supposed to go away for 2 weeks in September but have yet to receive confirmation. So, either way, I still need to stock up.

In terms of expressing, I was thinking to stick with after subuh prayers pumping then instead of mid-morning, perhaps around midday and then after sungkai. So, insya Allah that should at least be 24oz. Oh, working hours during Ramadhan is usually shorter so perhaps, AH shall feed less milk when Im at work.

Anyway, what are other nursing mothers’ experiences? Do you fast during Ramadhan? How do you ensure you have enough supply? Do you feed solids more to make up for it? Do you drink more in the evening to make up for it? What is your expressing schedule like? Do you find any changes in your milk?

Appreciate if you could share. Thanks

Last Weekend

March 31, 2008 at 9:51 pm | In AH's mummy, baby AH, baby products, babyme, breastfeeding, scrappping, shopping | 10 Comments

Little one was not feeling so well over the weekend. He didn’t really sleep well and somehow, managed to sleep on his side by morning. Guess he felt more comfortable sleeping that way.

Nevertheless, decided to take him out on Sunday afternoon for a little bit of fresh air. Okay, fine, not so much fresh air as we were indoor most of the time. Haha. Went to Shabby to finally make use of my birthday discount. Tried to tell the husband that the spending is well-justified They will be used to scrap Baby AH’s pictures, bah

Also managed to alter a picture frame earlier in the day. It is for a colleague who left for another ministry today.

Did a stock take on my EBMs and realised i’m still short of at least 25 more 4ozs. I should have about 95 4ozs in stock already and insya Allah, that should be enough for Baby AH to feed on when I’m away.

Trying to prepare my EBMs made me breastpump worked extra hard! Hehe. Few times the diaphragm squeaked whilst pumping. This encouraged me to start looking for an electric pump. Not only my hands were numb from working overtime (lol!), I was a tad bit worried that my pump decided to stop working on me (although I could not find any online evidence on an Avent Manual Pump stopped working).

On top of that, today I was talking to my colleague who gave birth to a baby boy 2 months before Baby AH. She has started giving her baby formula 2-3 months ago and she said that her baby went through 3 tins a month at $17 a tin! That is about $51 a month and $612 a year! ERK! I didn’t realise formula could be THAT expensive- and I thought purchasing an electric pump was expensive!

So tonight, I have purchased (obviously with the husband’s blessings. haha.) a Medela Pump In Style Advanced (PISA). I hope, insya Allah, this can help extend my breastfeeding time. Plus, it should at least cover the cost of purchasing it relative to purchasing formula (kidding! haha!). Oh, but it should definitely cut down the time I spent expressing AND less numb hands, insya Allah

I will try and write a review on it once it arrives, insya Allah. . I do hope it arrives before I leave

Anyhoos, that’s all for now. I do apologise for not replying the comments yet. Even this post took me 2 days before I managed to finish it (a lot of editing!). Hehe.

Have a good week ahead y’all!

Mummy’s Knackered

March 29, 2008 at 7:47 pm | In AH's mummy, baby AH, travelling, working mother | Leave a Comment

I am knackered to the bone. My to-do list is LONG- both work and personal to-do list! Sigh.

Am glad the boss is going away for a meeting as this gives me some breathing space to complete all work in hand without being given new work- for at least next week anyway. However, J has also gone with him, which left me to man the unit alone- uwaaaaa! I guess I can’t really complain as I, too, will be going away and leaving J alone for 2 weeks- sorry J!

I have sooo many things to do but I guess, I need to start with renewing my passport (I know! Har har!) and making Baby AH’s passport. Then, I need to make new suits because my old suits are a bit tight around the *ehem*ehem*. Then there’s preparing Baby AH’s things to bring (Mummy can just buy things, which she forgot to bring for herself. Haha.). I also need to go back to the forum and decide which cooler box to buy and bring.

Argh. I don’t even want to start with my work-to-do list.

I am certainly looking forward to finally use up my 20% discount at Shabby. Yaaaay!

p.s. I am not making sense, ya? I need sleeeeeeeeeeeeep!

Co-sleeping and Cot sleeping.

March 23, 2008 at 11:58 am | In AH's mummy, baby AH, baby products, breastfeeding, development, sleeping, working mother | Leave a Comment

The little one is putting everything in his mouth! Erk.

I started noticing it the other day when he pinched my hand and brought it up to his mouth. Then last night, during dinner, he put his hand in his mouth and his hand was wet with his saliva. This morning during breakfast, I put him in his stroller, placing the stroller next to my chair. I handed him his toy and the next thing we knew, he had it in his mouth. LOL. When we took the toy away from him he put his hand in his mouth instead! Haha.

Before Baby AH was born, I said to myself that he shall be a cot sleeping baby and never a co-sleeping baby. I was pretty adamant at making sure that will happen even after talking to my friends who kept on saying that co-sleeping is the best. During confinement and before I started working, we worked hard in making sure that Baby AH sleeps in his cot. I would feed him sitting down in the middle of the night and then put him back to his cot when he was asleep- unless he was fussy, in which he would sleep on me.

When I started working, I realised that the time from when I came home to the time we sleep were not enough. I wanted Baby AH to be next to me at all times! I, then, slowly tried feeding him whilst lying down. Baby AH was also then big enough to scream and bring the house down if he was uncomfortable. Also, I needed the sleep. Haha. So, whilst baby AH was feeding with his eyes close, mummy had her eyes close too. Huhuhuhu.

Now, I am paying the price. Har har har. Baby AH is slowly refusing to sleep in his cot. When both of us had fall asleep, the husband would carry him and move him to his cot. At times, Baby AH would wake up and cry. Other times, he would continue to sleep until his next feed. Currently, as I feed him to sleep, I would have his pillow with me and then when he has been moved back to his cot, I would put his pillow back in the cot. I read this somewhere so, I’m hoping it will work in trying to get him back to his cot.

Oh, after his feed, I am usually too lazy to move him back to his cot so he would usually end up sleeping with me until I have to wake up for work. Hehehehehehe.

p.s. I think the Milkmaid Tea is working. Yesterday at work, I managed to increase my EBM. Before fenugreek supplements, I could only express 12 oz from 2 sessions whilst at work. After taking the supplements, it increased to 16 – 18oz. Yesterday, Alhamdullilah, I was able to express 20-21oz whilst I was at work :) Hmm, definitely a moo-moo! Haha. Am still looking at getting an electric pump. Hehe. Sangal tangan.

Have a good Sunday y’all!