Welcome!

Hi all!

Finally I managed to pass all the invitation (I think! and 90% of them just via FB hihihi, sorry!). Btw, if any of you yang I termiss, just beep me ok. And for my readers, you are invited too! If you leave somewhere near kota damansara and rasa boring malas masak lunch, just come over! Email me at aan.andes@gmail.com for address ok.


MrComot made this poster (I already erase the address) and it's just too cute not to put here hehehe.

Have a blast weekend everyone!

My Breastfeeding Journey

I've been meaning to write this entry for so long, but keep holding back because I don't feel comfortable about it because I know it's a sensitive issue to certain people.

But forgive me, I want to keep this as a memory in my blog even though if you think this is a gloat entry. Gloat or no gloat, I think I deserve it, for now hehehehe

Anyway it's about my breastfeeding journey.

Not everybody is showered with abundant milk immediately after birth and it takes a lot of effort from mommies. Especially first time mommy - totally clueless about baby. If you guys read my blog since early days, you know how I had troubles with my milk. And Zahra wasn't exclusively breastfed on the first 2 weeks, we mixed it with some formula milk.

But I am lucky to have friends around me who is pro-breastfeeding. Wanting something without knowledge is like walking blindly in the dark road. So I start preparing myself since early days, seeking for knowledge about BF. I read a lot of blogs, forum, Q&A, about breastfeeding. Everything is from internet - dunia di hujung jari anda! From there I know, it's not easy!

When I was confirmed pregnant, I set in my mind "I WANT TO EXCLUSIVELY BF MY BABY". I even proudly (believe me, with big smile and chin up ok!) tell everyone who asked me (this will include my o&g and nutritionist) that I want to BF my daughter for at least 2 years! Talking about being ambitious!

After a month being a mom, reality knocks my head macam tak mampu je nak BF 2 tahun, and I said, ok since dah beli pam mahal2 I have to make sure this thing work, kalau tak MrComot marah (boleh tak? I gigih pam sebab takut my hubby marah hehe), so I set my target to exclusively BF Zahra for at least 6 months.

Alhamdulillah after a while (Zahra almost 4 months now), my milk supply is getting stable and strong, than I want to cry! Like seriously! I never thought I will do it this far. I feel so proud of myself when the storage bag finished last week (18 April). I packed my milk 8oz for each bag and that means I already produced 800 oz!! It will be more because I also store my milk in the BumbleBee bottle (5oz each) *pat on my back*

When I was packing on 18/4/2010

100 bags finished! Equal to 800 oz = 23600 ml!

Again as I said, it's not that easy. You have no idea how many nights I feel so tired and sleepy and lazy but I still have to wake up to pump out my milk because if I don't, my body will tell my brain that I don't need the milk, so my supply will drain slowly and I am so scared it will happen that soon. Supply & demand concept. I know this is hard to believe but trust me, been there done that. I religiously pump my milk since the first week and I got only 1oz each time (that will be 1/2oz each breast, very sad), then it started to increase 2oz per session..then 4oz, then 6oz. Time tu dah happy gila..wait..6oz was last month I think (March). It maintained at 6oz for quite sometimes that I thought "ohh that's it, this is the maximum my breast can produce, so okay lah". But after a while, I'm making 8oz per pump and then since last week occasionally I can get 10oz! OMG nak pitam ok. Macam tak sangka.

My current stock, taken all the space in the freezer side.

February stock. I started to make stock 2 weeks after delivery.

Anyway it's not all rainbows and sunshine. I still remember on the early days, it was really hard for me. With Zahra asyik nanges macam tak cukup susu, orang pun tell me the same, and I have to watch my diet takut nak makan jamu la, takut nak makan ni nanti Zahra panas/colic..penat sangat! There are days when suddenly Zahra crying and MrComot will ask me "What you had for lunch/dinner?" thinking it might because of my milk. Can you imagine how you will feel about it? I mean, you are doing your best here ok and it's not working as per plan, you are very tired as well, not a good time to get criticized right? I became snappish and rude sometimes that I said "I don't know! pergilah bancuh susu tepung". But I know he didn't mean it that way, it is just we were too confused and tired.

Even though susu dah banyak still I have to watch what I eat, I still afraid to take a lot of sodium, junk food, potatoes, glutinous rice, takut Zahra kembung.

Just few tips for young mommies who are seeking for tips regarding breastfeeding:
1) Set your mind that you really want to bf
2) Gain your knowledge - how bf works (supply&demand), how to store/handle/thaw ebm
3) Prepare mentally when people said your milk is not enough. Have faith..your milk is enough but maybe not now..you have to make it enough
4) Eat right. It's important for you and baby.
5) Stress free. Very important. My milk supply will decrease when I am in stress. Have enough rest.
6) Make sure you are healthy. If you are not, maybe your body can't produce the milk. Like my case, my normal production 3 oz of that breast went down to 1oz only for a few days. But remember the other rules, stress free! So relax, calm and keep on pumping as usual, it will catch up in no time.
7) Get support from your loved ones. Yes MrComot awal-awal tu bitchy jugak ok, cakap my milk tak cukup hahaha..but after a while, he gets the picture and 100% on my side. Now he does most of the thing everyday, wash my pump after balik ofis, cut fruits and make fruit juice for me, prepare anmum lacta, make sure I take my vitamin pills, prepare my pump bag every morning, etc. Part wash my pump tu yang best sangat because I have to bf Zahra after dinner and most of the time I fall asleep straight away, forgetting about my pump. Thanks baby!

Another tips that might work for you - my food intake:
I take milo, horlicks, Anmum Lacta, apples, nestum, sawi, longan (canned and dried - boil and drink it), obimin and calcium lactate as supplement. This is not my everyday food but that what I've tried lah. Apples and milo I take everyday sbb it's my comfort food hehe.. (after deliver I mcm crave over sweet thing, my mom cakap it's normal for a BF mommy)

And yes daddies, breastfeeding is tiring. Somehow rasa penat sangat, so please please please understand your wife ok, it's not like, nahhh suck my boob and that's it! Because you are burning the calories when BF. Don't expect your wife to do all the work.


Btw, you don't have to feel bad if you give your child formula. In the end it's up you you. If you want BF, work for it, kalau tak berjaya it's ok, you have tried your best. If you don't, then don't have to justify yourself. It's your choice :)

Again it's not easy, that's why you have to know what you want, the determination and patience, insyAllah it will work.

Macam cloth diaper ni..I still not ready for it even I know most of my friends already using CD for their babies since 2 months! Ohh how I envy them. I wish I can do the same..but not now. Still not ready mentally ;)

To my breastfeeding friends, happy BF and stay chirpy ok! *hugs*

Bad Bad Phlegm

Zahra was having difficulty to sleep due to phlegm in her nose last night. I'm not sure what causing it at first place, but my hunch saying it's because of me! I bathed her with cold water on Saturday morning and then brought her out to The Curve with short sleeve romper. With aircond for the whole day, I think it is a good combo for her to develop the phlegm.

She has been a very good baby though, no crankiness only that she can't sleep! Tutup mata, bunyi breathing berhingus, then terbangun. Tutup mata again, breathing hingus, bangun! She's trying soo hard to sleep but tak puas bernafas. My poor baby...

I tried to suck it out via the nose cleaner but she refuses to sit still everytime the cleaner reaching her, siap berair-air mata! I even suck her nose with my own mouth, but it didn't work.

Then I put her on her chest, rub the back and toinggg, the phlegm came out from her mouth, only she doesn't know how to spit it out hahaha (I find baby's ability is funny and amazing at the same time).

She can sleep after that but still not comfortably as she kept on waking me up asking for latches.

This morning we brought her to the clinic and doc gave Chloramine syrup but doc said Zahra looks ok, no phlegm in the lung. As long as she's active and drinks well, it should be no problem. The medicine is for standby only, if she seems in distress. He also advices me to make sure Zahra doesn't sleep in wet cloth/sweaty chest as the body will react to the dampness and causing the phlegm.

Oh ya, masa jumpa doctor elokkk pulak budak tu. Senyum2 and siap babytalk with the doctor. You don't like medicine and act all tough yer baby? Anyway I still didn't give her that syrup, hopefully she'll be okay tonight.

She's already 6kg at 3months 2weeks and now can hold up her neck but still can't turn her body. Her current hobby is playing with her own saliva and mommy's hair is falling *sigh*

See mulut penuh dengan saliva

Oh ya, Zahra dah sunat! It was a very interesting experience. Gonna write about it later.


Mwahhhhhhhh

Planning and pening

Ohh how I miss my blog..but I've been very very very busy. Hmm not that busy actually but I can't really put myself to write. So many things in my head already.

Anyway the latest news will be Zahra nak kena sunat esok!!! Hmm takot ok. I dunno..this is my first time handling such situation and macam seriau sket orang utara cakap. Will she feels any pain? How much the doc going to cut? Hmm hopefully everything turn out good. Pray for her will ya?

And I'm planning Zahra's majlis kesyukuran on 2nd of May. It's not aqiqah but only more to makan2 thingy for family and friends to celebrate the newborn, at our house. Also not going to do the cukur jambul. Just makan2 and chill out :D It's going to be lunchtime. All are invited. To my friends yg dekat KL nanti I invite personally ok..but in any case I miss out, just beep me and jangan berkecil hati, manusia kan pelupa :) I'll give you the invite.

By the way, we only plan it in our head but still no action. Alang-alang ranting, I just jot down here so maybe can help me pushing myself to do it hehe

1) Catering - Decided but not confirmed yet. No payment made yet.
2) Canopy - Tak ada lagi!
3) Favours - On the way. Something really2 sweet. Nanti I post up
4) House - no deco, only need to borrow the carpets from aunty..going to do it on 1st May
5) Baju Zahra - Pakai apa yang ada je boleh? I don't think I have the time to find nice dress for her.
6) Baju mommy and daddy - Baju kurung and baju melayu yg sedia ada. But it's so buruk already and tak ikut tema. Worst come to worst we pakai baju nikah boleh? Hmm..
7) Finger food - ordered from MamaFami
8) Invites - Belum jemput anybody formally, even the family! Gotta do this fast!
9) Table and bekas makan for side dishes - Tak beli/fikir lagi
10) Flowers - On Saturday I cari kut. Worst come to worst no flower la huhuhu

Hmm what else? Tell me eh kalau ada apa2 I need to add.

And looking at the list, OMG I only siap 2 out of 10. Dah la yg penting2 macam catering ngan canopy tak book lagi. Ok by today I must take out few items from the list. MUST!!!

Tired tired tired

Zahra much better today. No more crankiness, alhamdulillah. But now mommy pulak yang cranky sebab penat sangat. Dah dua malam she poops at 3am while feeding. Normally kalau dia berak pun, during sleeping I tak sedar, so tunggu pagi je la basuh. But these nights, during I was about to pump la, to feed her la..so macam tak sampai hati nak paksa dia tidur without clean it first. After cleaning + feeding it's already almost 5. And the thing is, her poop and fart stink! Like seriously. Tak pernah busuk macam tu ok. In fact I had to change her pant as well even though tak kena kat seluar, but the bau melekat! Punya la kawwww. For the first time jugak I had to hold my breath when I clean her ha ha ha

My babysitter cakap it's normal for breastfed baby, because it's depending on what mommy eat. Hmmmm makan apa yer smalam? Makan udang sambal ngan kangkung goreng. Busuk ke?

Oh ya..just a rant here.. I am so tired that my muscle rasa sengal2 macam nak demam tu. Otak pun macam active separuh je..

Cranky Cotton Candy

Zahra Elena is officially 3 months old last Saturday! She had her second triple antigen jab together with rotavirus vaccination a day before. The vaccine is taken orally and it was her first time tasting another 'taste' aside from the milk. The doctor gave the vaccine via shringe with two small sips. Zahra made faces for the first sip, like she is eating something weird (rugi tak snap pic huhu) and the second sip, she's already full of tears ready to cry that, doctor, nurse, MrComot and me had to pujuk-pujuk her "jangan nanges sayang..sikit je..telan telan cepat"

When at home I didn't give her the paracetamol because she didn't show any sign of fever and be her usual self. But she started to get unexplainable crankiness 48 hours after that. She refuses to sleep, drink and lie down. All she wanted is being carried and me be with her all the time. Coincidently I was on annual leave today so I can entertain her. Whenever she's hungry, she will latch and pull, latch and pull..it's more like she's biting off my breast - a show of discomfort. But she'll back normal, smiley and giggling after she poops. Then I feed her while she's ok, she'll fall into sleep, wake up after an hour and back cranky - repeat 3 times for today.

At first I thought because of I the pizza that I had yesterday (maybe because of the extra cheese intolerant) but today my diet is normal and she still being cranky, so it must be something else.

I don't think it's because of the triple antigen as well. My hunch strongly says she's reacting on the rotavirus. I searched online and there are few cases of crankiness and even diarrhoea after taking the vaccine. Different babies act differently though.

I know she'll be okay after a while, but for how long? I'm more worried about tomorrow as she'll be going to babysitter. The thing is, she still has unresolved issue with taking bottle (her babysitter has to pujuk her, like real pujuk and she'll cry before she drinks via bottle) so this just will make thing worse. A cranky baby whom refused to drink directly from her mom, and has to take from bottle pulak. And her mother won't be there to attend her. Lagila mengamuk + sedih budak tu :(

This is her being cranky and sad today :(

How about you mommies? Your kids ada extra reaction after taking that vaccine tak?

And to Zahra, please please drink your milk tomorrow ok. Mommy worried lah.. :(

My Baby Girl and Me :)

Baru je complaint penat, today is Friday. TGIF! Last night I though it's Thursday. Bestnya weekeenddddd.

Anyway now I remember that after so long I still haven't posted my pic with Zahra. In fact I don't have any proper pic with Zahra! I was too busy snapping her pics instead. And another thing is, we barely have the time to pose for it. Pagi-pagi kelam kabut pegi keja, balik dah malam. But last night my younger bro came to my house and and this morning while watching our kelam-kabutness, he offers to snap my pic with Zahra.

Zahra muka masam sebab baru bangun dah kena paksa tengok camera

Zahra Elena in the car, on my lap, still sembab from her slumber. Look a little bit like baby boy eh?

We tried to put Zahra on the car-seat and she seems ok with it, good girl! But she couldn't last too long in it, max is about 30-45mins I think, then started to get restless. We tried it last week, when we balik to Manjung :)

Zahra Elena being jolly in her car-seat

I plan to bring Zahra out this weekend to the mall (gathering with some Teratorian babes) and it's gonna be her first time in the stroller. Hopefully she'll be fine as well.


Have a great weekend darlings, and kalau terjumpa Zahra, tegur lah yer! Mwahhhhhhh

Drained

I am very exhausted this few days. The new time-table really drained my energy till end. Even though Zahra is behaving, I still find myself don't have enough rest.

After the maternity leave, we start our day very early. No more 9AM morning for us. After Subuh, I have to prepare Zahra's milk berapa-berapa oz in 4 bottles, then feed her a bit in her sleep while waiting for MrComot finish his shower. Then my turn to take shower, MrComot will cut apples for me, prepare my choc milk, dries up my breastpump and pack it, etc. Then after I dressed up, I will wake Zahra up, tickle her a bit here and there, change the diapers and we are good to go - averagely at 730am.

Stuck in jam for like 1 hour no matter which road we take, Zahra will be on my lap all the way instead of in the carseat because I want her to manja2 with me..she will latch on me even though she's already full to the brim. Then reach babysitter around 845am, play with her for a while and then off to the office.

Then after office, pick her up, again she'll be on my lap and latch, stuck in jam for another 1 hour plus, reach my MIL's or my house around 745pm.

At home, I'll play with Zahra a bit then feed her until she falls asleep, then pack her stuff siap-siap in the bag for tomorrow, have the 'me time' with MrComot watching Big Bang or Chuck (almost finish! Tgh dload V and psych pulak), occasionally MrComot will do some work, reply emails, etc. Then I pump the milk at 12am and sleep.

Basically that's our routine now. Simple kan. But I still feel tired to the max! In fact this week I didn't manage to stay awake until 12am, I just simply doze off while feeding Zahra! MrComot woke me up for my Isya' last night at 12 and I was tooo sleepy that I straightly sleep after prayer without pumping and akibatnya, I was awake at 3am because my boobs too full and already sakit.

MrComot told me that I snored and tell you what, I only snore when I'm tired. I even drooled ok! Bangun-bangun basah je my sleeve. OMG..I don't know why I'm so exhausted. I think I need to take Pharmaton or something like that lah..

On a ceria mood, this is Zahra this morning when I woke her up. She's about 3 months now and she will smile everytime I wake her. EVERYTIME ok. Comelnyaaa sayang mummmyy! Ok ok a bit over la pulak. But you know the feeling... when that person give you the sweetest and most sincere smile whenever they open their eyes. It melts your heart and gives you the warmth feeling down to your spine (it also bring me to tears on the early days!)

Senyum senyum lepas kena kejut

Something that we always forget to do. Bila dah besar-besar ni, instead of senyum, muka masam, grumpy, cranky and marah when people kejutkan kita, kononnya kacau tidur hahahaha. A note to myself, I will pose the sweetest smile when MrComot wakes me up after this gagagagaga

Hubby playing with Zahra before off to work. Ketawa mengekek-ngekek budak tu.

She can laugh already so we have to find the spot - mostly armpit, neck and chest area. Sometimes we didn't manage to hit the spot but still, she will nganga-nganga like trying to be there, you know, like orgasm tak sampai haha

We make it a habit to play with her before and after work, even though I am tempted to put her to sleep so that we can rest, because kesian ok kalau tak main ngan dia. After all that's the only time we have to spend with her, so it's better be good.

It's true when they said, hilang penat balik kerja bila tengok anak. But still, I need more rest!! How I wish we only work 4 days a week. Lepas tu mintak 3 hari pulak, pastu terus tak kerja ha ha ha. No lah..how I wish we have shorter working time, so that we can spend more time with her.