290: My baby first meal

For record, I've started feeding Emir with solids since last two weeks as he'd already turned six months recently. Yaayyy!!

This is our first attempt, so we tried Farleys' Rusks. As advised by our baby sitter, do not introduce porridge to Emir (yet), not until he reach at least nine months old. So, how did he taking it? Haha..here are some pictures of him experimenting his food for the first time!

As you can see, he didn't swallow his food. Poor baby, I guess he was confused on what he is supposed to do with them. The sensation of something creamy with a little bit texture (unlike milk) in his mouth must be a new thing for him.

All this while it's always milk, milk and milk. All so sudden, "Eh, what's this creamy thing in my mouth?.Hmm..It's quite thick and sweet. Am I supposed to let them gone into my throat or just let them here, forever ?"...

Which apparently, he just shoved it all in his mouth and never swallow! Haha..see those mess?

It's either he didn't like it or he just being born with a little appetite..kihkih

After about 30minutes, he end-up with his normal feeding routine.."Emir: Yes, milk, milk, milk ...I like!"

Day 2.

I could see some improvement *good news*. Amazingly, Emir seems to know how to cope with his food this time. Spoon after spoon, he finally completed his meal! Siap nangis in between feed, whenever mama lambat sikit nak sua spoon to him.

Danggg!  -__-'

Tapi after fed pun, still nak susu laa... Haha, so let's accept the fact that Emir's 'tank' is getting much bigger now!

In the meantime, I'm looking around for simple recipe for baby's food preparation. I stumbled upon this one. A very easy peasy instant porridge prep! (which so happen that this blogger a.k.a Cheyan is my junior at KUSESS. Haaah, what a small world!) Hi Yanti!! (lambai tangan sambil kenyit2 mata).

If you have recipes, kindly share with me? can? ;)

286: Giving Birth Experience [The Precious One]

My bad, I've promised to wrap up the whole experience of giving birth in this chapter but it took me about 4 months to eventually complete my story. To a friend who'll be giving birth to her first child anytime soon now, Lela Aziz, hopefully what I'm telling from my personal experience could give you an extra information of  true picture on giving birth moment, as requested. Thanks for being patient and sorry dear to make you keep waiting =')

..continued from "The Waiting Game"

Entering the labour ward, I'd been 'warmly greeted' with a loud scream from one of the in-pain mommy from one of the labour room (haih.. that was somehow demotivated me, and made me feel freaking scared!!)

Reached to the dedicated room that sized roughly 150 sq.ft, I was transferred from the wheelchair to the bed. Climbing up the bed was the hardest in my life, I swear! Especially with my condition (who is constantly in extreme contractions pain every 3-4 minutes), even a very little movement, could cause pain to the whole body.

After a while, I was given drip on my left hand which  I never knew I was being induced, not until my sister told me few days later that the drip is actually a kind of induction to expedite the birth process.  No wonder, the contractions  keep getting harder even after I had Entonox (gas and air), the gas didn't seems to work well on me.

Seriously, I never read on this article before; Entonox . Such a pity that I only discovered it later, after I gave birth. Maybe, only after I went through the experience, I could now relate myself to all these. For those who are going to give birth soon, please be sure that you know how to use the Entonox.

Here is the most important useful tips:

"Start breathing the Entonox the very second you feel a contraction is about to begin. It takes at least 20 sec. for the gas to build up in your blood stream to a sufficient level to give you some pain relief, and 45-50 sec. before it reaches its greatest effectiveness. If you wait until the contraction really hurts, and then start breathing the Entonox, it will be taking effect in between contractions!"

~http://www.babycenter.com.my

Taking entonox somehow has it's own downside. Apart from it's only a mild pain killer, it could make you sick and dries out your mouth. About almost an hour after I consumed Entonox, I throw up big time. So many of it I think I've emptied the whole stomach. There goes all the food I consumed earlier, a half bar of Kit Kat which I took for lunch before I was delivered into labour room, and kebab for dinner a night before. It created a nasty stain on my pillow as some of it could not wait  to go into the plastic bag.

With all those sick feelings especially the contractions, I've became weaker every minutes. How I wish I could end all this right away, but I know the journey is still long way to go since my water bag is yet being broken.

Then, a doctor came in to break my water bag. Before she could do so, she emptied my urine using a catheter. Looking at the almost full collection bag, she asked me when was the last time I went to toilet which I told her it was 6am this morning. She was a bit suprised and asked whether or not I've emptied my bowel before I go into the labour room? I told her, "No". Further more I was in a terrible pain since morning that I forgot the needs to urinate or such. This is another tricky situation, that my sister said, perhaps the hospital has overlooked a procedure on me, "to ensure that the patient has emptied their bowel". Based on her experience for all her child, patient will be given some kind of pill so they can empty their bowel before the delivery take place.

But Alhamdulillah..nothing bad happened to me. 

After the water broke, I could feel the contraction become more intense. This carried on for another one more hour. With the little energy left, I keep reciting du'a..and tell myself to be strong for the sake of my baby.

Accompanied by the sounds of my baby heart beats through the machine, it kept me aware how this little life in my womb is fully depends on me to get him into this world, and thinking of that makes me strong!

Then, dilated at 9 cm, I was allowed to push.  Just to let you know, we'll have the tendency to push whenever we feel the contraction, cause somehow it could relief the pain from contractions. However, the doctor won't allow you to push if you haven't fully dilated due to the risk of your perineum would got swollen as it's not yet ready to let the baby out.

As I pushed for the first time, it was 4.45pm and the doctor said she could feel my baby's head on his way out. I kept pushing harder, I almost out of breath on  every single try. Somehow, as I said earlier, I was already exhausted that I need to be assisted  with episiotomy. When the cut was made,  I could barely feel the pain but I could feel something warm gushing out. It could be the blood, or it could be water. I could hardly tell. All I know is I need to put extra effort to push so that all these could be over at the soonest.

After the most terrifiyng  (it's between life and death moment, right?) 25 minutes in my life, the baby's finally out! I could see my baby's whitish body. As hubs said, there's not much blood on him, he's such a clean delivered baby.

Few seconds after that, they handed me my baby, and asked.."Puan, tengok ni..puan dapat baby apa?" I was in tears, I could hardly answered.."Boy..." and so I cried. Seriously, only then I understood the true meaning of tears in happiness. I didn't cry on my solemnization day, whereas most people will, but this time, for the first time in my life, I understood how does it feels, crying in happiness.

MasyaAllah, with my baby on my chest, I hold him tight and deep down in my heart I thanks Allah for blessing me with the happiest moment a woman could ever wish, to become a mother and this has definitely completed my life!

After that, they took my baby to be cleaned, as my wound also need to be sewn up. For the first 30minutes, my baby was staying with me in the same room before he was taken away to be checked. He was such a good boy, I didn't hear him crying at all (only when I saw he was carried out from the room then I realized that all this while he was staying in the same room. I was too exhausted from the pushing for the past 25 minutes, to be well aware of everything  happened around me). The nurse took my baby's placenta and told me that it's weighed 500g. While my baby himself, was weighed at 2.95kg and measured at 45cm length.

The stitching process took almost an hour. I hate it everytime the thread passes through my skin, I could still feel the pain (urgh..unforgettable one!) And I hate it even more everytime they need to tighten the thread..pain much!!

After everything was done, I finally had my first meal after the delivery! Then, we (me and my baby) were sent to post natal ward (ward 4D), where I spent the first night ever with my little one. The joy could hardly described by words when my baby latched. Subhanallah..it's completely amazing  to see how your baby latch to you even he was only at few hours old! =')

 

After all, the most excruciating pain that I experienced through this whole process of giving birth was the contractions. Next, goes to the stitching, and then only the pushing part.

I don't know why I had such a painful contractions that lasted for quite a long hours (about 15 hours). Maybe I should have done more exercise such as walking, goes up and down the stairs more frequent than what I had last time. Since I had quite a painful experience for the first child birth, I pray for Allah will make him to become a good son and eventually a good person in life.

InsyaAllah. Ameen...

I wonder whether I'll be able to undergo those pain again?  I could not answer that now..if I'm in the situation once again, I'll surely let you know!haha.. 

Everytime I look at this little eyes, all the pains that I've been through are worth-it!

281: Dilemma of A Breastfeeding Mom..

It's 3.00 in the morning.

I'm just done with another pumping session after theprevious one I had at 10. Oh Allah, please help me with my milk supply. 

My baby is only five months old, and I'm not yet ready to let him consume 100% formula milk. The fact that I have to start feeding him with formula milk really break my heart, what's more to let him rely totally on FM. My wish, my desire to fully breastfeed my little one has gone into the drain (cry..T__T).

These days, I could hardly get enough milk for my baby. (Since Emir is drinking 5 bottles during the day, 5 oz each feed.. I am no longer able to cope with his demands).

I'm not sure what is my milk booster, after all that I've tried, I still couldn't figure out.

Furthermore, with the pump condition which I think may not last any longer, has worsened my situation now. The motor getting noisier each day, and the suction is not as good as before. Sigh~

I'm thinking of getting another pump, the best of it's kind.

I hope this could fix the problem. Question is, can this help to solve my problem? Can my low milk supply be recovered if I'm using this pump? Anyone could suggest to me whether I should buy or shouldn't I?

......

 
 

276: King and Queen of Emir's Heart

Have you ever wonder how is your baby's vision?
Some people say that a baby could only see things clearly at the month of six.
While some say at the age of three month a baby could only still see black and white without colours.

The old folks say when a baby was born, he could not see things clearly and could only recognize his mother because he would see the special 'crown' on his mother's head. Haha..funny. So, I guess this is how Emir saw me. But this one a little bit advance because both mummy and daddy are wearing crowns. Yes, we are the King and Queen of Emir's heart.

The point to say is, I stumbled upon this website: tinyeyes.com. Find out how the world looks like through your baby tiny eyes =')

p/s: Wanna get smooth skin like babies? Maybe Elianto hand cream could help ;)

275: Down With Fever

It has been a week but there's still no sign of Emir's cough will disappear any sooner. (sigh)

For record, this is the first time Emir is down with fever and cough. The day he caught up with fever was in the midnight of last Monday. I swear I was the most  worried mommy in the world when all so sudden, Emir's body temperature rose and became hotter than it supposed to be.

Of course he was crying. You know, coughing, increasing body temperature..and this is a little baby who are dealing with those uncomfortable feeling.

As his head getting hotter, I took some water and rubbed it off around his head and face. But I became more panic as Emir seems to get shocked with the sudden cool water and cried louder. Oh my baby...In the middle of midnight, we couldn't figure out in head any nearby clinic operating at this hour. So we decided to feed him with Paracetamol syrup provided by the clinic from which Emir went to for his vaccinations. Thanks to Allah, his body temperature slightly went down as soon as we gave him 1.5ml of the syrup. And due to his tiredness of crying beforehand has put him down to sleep again.

The next day, we went off to clinic. According to doctor, he still has the fever but there's not much to worry about. Hence, we got a Uphamol for fever and  Dysolvon Syrup for the cough. 

Comes the following day, when I thought we are ready to send Emir back to nursery so that both of us could resume to work, Emir fell sick even worse than the day before.. leaving us with no other options that I had to stay and take care of my little baby while hubby go to work.

Being left alone with my sick baby, my physical and emotion were really tested. From the moment hubby left the door, I have to dedicate all of my time to look after emir. Feeling sick is not a good experience even for us, adults. Inikan pula emir yang baru je menginjak usia 4 bulan...(cry) For the whole morning, Emir just crying with his eyes closed most of the time..even to open up his eyes pun macam tak larat. Berdukung nangis, apatah lagi to put him on his bed. I knew that he must be struggling to breathe as I saw his stomach  pulling in and out harder every time he's breathing.

As a new mom, I have no experience with sick babies so I am quite lack of knowledge on how to encounter the situation. Again, thanks to Allah..the knowledge has been conveyed to me through my friends when I uploaded Emir's picture in FB. I would like to thanks few friends especially Dot for the sponging tips. It helps reducing Emir's body heat a lot..And because of that, Emir could sleep more soundly and get to wake up at the late evening with a smile on his face  (which I haven't seen him smiling even a tiny bit of smile since a night before). As I told my father the other day, it was the first time Emir was not happy during his bath time..merengek2 je walaupun dah masuk dalam bath tub kegemaran dia. :(

So for new mommies who doesn't know, this is how we do the sponging to reduce our baby's body temperature whenever he's down with high fever.

1. Undress your baby, leave him only with his diaper on.

2. Switch off the fan.

3. Damp  a small towel and put on your baby's stomach, underarms, arms, neck, and head.

4. Leave it for a few minutes.

5. Take it off from your baby and start damping the towel again. At the moment you take off the towel, you may find the towel is warm as it has asorbed the heat from your baby.

6. Repeat the same procedures for about 10 minutes until you feel the temperature has lowered down.

7. You may leave your baby sleeps with the towels on his body and head to avoid his body temperature rise again.

Hope this help. In return, would you do me a favor? Could you please pray for my little emir..for he will fully recovered and his cough will disappear immediately so that we could see that cheeky smile again?  

Thank you and May Allah Bless :)

p/s: Help Softlan to collect 1,000,000 pledges so they can donate RM 100,000 to the Breast Cancer Charity. My dear ladies, please pledge now if you care. Click here to pledge :)

272: Emir at Four Months Young

Our little Emir has reached his 4-months old and these are things that he likes to do these days:

♥ Loves to play with his hands. When I first discover about his new 'hobby', I was wondering how can he be so quiet for quite few minutes. For instance. I was cleaning the dishes while emir was left in the room or on his playgym, sleeping. At one time I thought I heard him cry (the kind of cry that seeking for attention, not so much because he is hungry or having any discomfort feelings) but suddenly he stops crying. I cleaned up my hands and  find out that he was actually busy playing with his own fingers, which usually emir will end up trying to put all his ten finger in his mouth, eager to suck both hands..haih la emir, tak boleh la camtu sayang..

♥ A lot of dribbling and he loves to make bubbles of it. Small ones,big ones, you name it. Berbuih2 mulut penuh dgn bubbles. Do you see those bubbles in this picture? hehe..
When hubby fetch emir from nursery the other day, he told me that one of the kids from the nursery said "Emir banyak bubbles!"..haha. Seems like emir has started making friends from the nursery..ramai abang2 nak kawan dengan emir? ;)

♥ Manages to turn but not yet ready to roll over as he still couldn't lift his head up straight. If we put him on higher pillow he could easilly roll but let him on the flat mattress, it would be quite hard for him to raise his head..kepala emir besar sangat la mama, berat!! (frustated) hihi..

♥ Screaming out his high pitch voice when he's crying. Alahai comel je bunyinya..Emir tengah marah, tapi mama dengan ayah dok gelak dengar suara dia jerit2 ..coz its too cute;)

♥ Still loves bath time sooo much. Always give us a happy face when we started to undress and 'undiapers' him..haha. Asal bukak baju je emir mesti tergelak2..angkat2 kaki dan paha gebu dia tu. But now he almost cannot fit the bath tub anymore..its either his feet or head will hit the surface if he moves a lot. I have to be extra careful whenever I bathe him. Nasib baik Emir behave je masa mandi..takde la nak kicking so much or buat perangai di luar kawalan yang mama dia tak boleh nak handle :')

♥ We have separated our bed since emir has started to rotate in sleep. I'm glad that Emir has no trouble sleeping at his own cot. But he surely still wake us up 2/3 times through the night for his feeding routine.

This was little emir in his cot during confinement days. Now,we've moved the cot into our room so that it would be easier for me to feed him throughout the night sleep.

Baby cot, bedding set & mattress, nursing pillow are all from Twinsbaby. You can either buy their products online or offline. We bought these set at their store, behind Tesco Ampang.

And finally guess what he loves most?

♥ Watching History Channel..yeay! An avid fan of Stan Lee's SuperHumans, Pawn Stars and The Pickers. haha..lol
Was having his leisure time watching Stan Lee's Super Human.. Haa..berangan nak jadi Hulk lettew.. :p

255: The End of My Confinement

253: Giving Birth Experience [The Waiting Game]

..continued from "The Contractions Attacks"

When the doctor said I'm already 3cm dilated, it means I'm ready to be warded. While Ezal went to park his car, two nurses then escorted me to the waiting-for-labour ward at level 4 (Ward 4C).  How I wish I was wheeled up there instead of walking. Tapi yelah, kalau nak mempercepatkan bukaan..memang kena banyak berjalan ye, especially for the first child..it would take 1hr for cervix to dilate to 1cm.

Speaking of that, I might need another 7 hours to tolerate with this contractions pain to allow my cervix to be completely dilated to 10cm. Sheshhh, even another 5 minutes contractions pain pun dah tak sanggup inikan pula another 7 hours.Oh my!

Earlier at home, when contractions attacked every 15 minutes, ada juga suami tolong urut-urutkan,  maka kurang sikit sakit yang menusuk-nusuk bahagian belakang pinggang. But being here, in the hospital ward, nobody is allowed to accompany the patient except during the limited visiting hours, from 12.30pm-2pm and 5pm-7pm. Haih laa, masa ni rasa sedih sebab terasa macam menanggung sakit sorang-sorang. Memanglah kalau husband ada pun, still sakit kita..badan sendiri yang menanggung tapi sekurang-kurangnya kalau ada suami dapat juga dia tolong usap-usapkan bahagian belakang pinggang dan bagi kata-kata semangat pada kita.

After I changed to the pink hospital attire, I quickly lay on my bed, tak mampu nak berdiri lama. With me in the 2nd class ward were another 3 patients (who seems quite well to me..not in the painful condition as myself). Just to let you know, there's no 1st class ward in Hospital Ampang. In fact, I prefer to get a single bed room so that I could cry or scream out loud like nobody's business whenever the contractions become unbearable.Fuh~

Somehow, it seems like I was the only one yang mengerekot atas katil tahan sakit. Dalam hati terdetik, diorang ni belum nak beranak lagikah? Since I was already in pain, I didn't bother to say hi to any of them. Nak senyum pun dah tak larat apatah lagi nak bertegur sapa (diorang pun buat hal sendiri je, mungkin tengah berfikir bagaimana agaknya proses bersalin masing-masing nanti ;p )

Then, a nurse came to  get some of my details. Before she left, she reminded me to intercom when the contractions start to occur at every 5 minutes (by that time, my contractions was already every 10 minutes apart). I just nodded. The nurse went away, and there goes another series of contractions..

Not so long after that, Ezal showed up with the hospital bag. Since it was already passed breakfast time which food was served at 7am, family members are allowed to bring in food for patient. Itupun only for 10 minutes.

As briefed by the nurse to me earlier, I told my husband that after the labour, patient shall be transferred to another ward, Ward 4D (post delivery). Meaning that Ezal has to carry the hospital bag with him all the time selagi proses bersalin belum selesai. To others, make sure you reduce stuff in your hospital bag. Kalau tak, suami kena la mengusung beg yg berat ke sana ke mari. Kesian dia..

By 9am, I started to feel more regular pain at my lower back. That's it! Hard contractions at 4 minutes apart. As the interval became shorter, the pain became more intense! -__-'

At 11am, for the second time I was checked. (To me, the VE (vaginal examination) procedure is quite hurt and sooo uncomfortable!) Bad news..I was extremely upset when doctor told me I was still 3cm dilated. Haih, no progress even after 4 freaking hours!!

When lunch served at 12pm, I could only look at the food, helplessly. Serious, memang tiada nafsu hendak makan. Deria yang ada semua tertumpu pada rasa sakit di bahagian atas pinggul, belakang pinggang. I don't know how to deal with the pain. Sedar2 Ezal sudah berada di tepi katil. Saya cuba hendak mengadu pada suami akan kesakitan yang ditanggung. Tapi, rasanya tak terkeluar semua rintihan2 tu..semua tersekat di peti suara. Barangkali, melihat keadaan saya suami juga memahami beban yang saya tanggung.. mungkin.

Apa  yang mampu saya lakukan hanyalah berzikir sebanyak-banyaknya dengan doa nabi Yunus agar dipermudahkan kelahiran nanti:

"Laa ila ha illa anta subhanaka inni kuntu minaz dzalimin"

(Surah Al-Anbiya)

Looking at the food being untouched, husband offered them to me. I refused but requested for a bar of chocolate. He then came back with  a bar of Kit Kat. That was my only energy source for labour process later on, other than the kebab I had last night for dinner. Makan Kit Kat pun tak habis, just half of the packet.

Around 1pm, I was called by the nurse for the VE procedure again. This time instead of being checked on my bed,  I need to walk to the room at further front, near to the counter. Dengan segala kudrat yang ada, berjalanlah saya perlahan-lahan menuju ke bilik yang dimaksudkan. Sakitnya bukan kepalang, namun saya tetap gigih berjalan dengan harapan akan cepatlah bukaan mencapai 10cm.

Again, I was told the same bad news."Maaf ye puan, bukaan masih lagi 3cm" Huarghhh...dah sakit macam ni pun still 3cm? I was barely dilated! Hairan kenapa sakit makin menjadi-jadi tapi tiada improvement pun pada bukaan pangkal rahim. Saya pun dengan longlai turun dari katil selepas pemeriksaan. This time, I could feel blood gushing out. I looked at my pink sarong. Yep, there are some blood stain on it.

As Ezal came back from performing Zuhur prayer around 2pm, I experienced more excruciating contractions that I screamed out loud. "Teruk sangat dah ni?Nak panggil nurse ke?" I heard my husband voice..Yes2 please..and again they checked the opening.

"Ok, dah 4cm, boleh la hantar ke wad bersalin" Oh God, I was so happy to hear that. In fact, they won't let you be in the labour room if you haven't dilate to 5cm. Tapi mungkin sebab contractions yang saya alami tersangat la kuat, they allowed me to go. Siap one of the nurse tu tanya.."Ada ambil air selusuh ke?air akar kayu? air zam-zam?".."Nampak teruk sangat contractions awak ni"

Dan kesekian kalinya saya hanya menggeleng kepala..sambil mengerang kesakitan.

It was a major relief to hear that in the labour room, there'll be some aid to lessen my contractions pain. I looked at my watch, it was about 2.15pm when they wheeled me to Wad Bersalin.

Phew~this post is getting too long. I'll wrap up everything in the next chapter :)

p/s: Emir refused to sleep alone on his bed (maybe air-cond sejuk sgt) on his very first night at hospital,  so we spent the whole night together with little emir sleeping next to mommy :')

247: My newborn baby

Alhamdulillah,

Nothing could best describe the feeling of being a mother at the moment I gave birth to my child on 24th May 2012. After 15hrs enduring the contracton pain, started from 1.45am (which I mean..really pain), I finally gave birth to a healthy baby boy at 5.08pm weighing 2.95kg.

Thank you Allah,

For the beautiful experience. For the precious feeling of  holding my baby immediately after he was born, that the pain were suddenly all gone, washed away by the crying voice from the innocent little guy. For the so much love that grew in my heart. They are so much till I couldn't say a word when I embraced him in my arms..so I cried, cried...and only cried.

Dear world, meet our little Emir.. the new love of my life :')

p/s: Emir has reached 5 weeks old now. InsyaAllah, I'll write more updates soon.