My Little Gardener

MrComot went to Giant to do groceries, leaving me with Emir and Zahra. Emir is sleeping so I only have to keep my eyes on Zahra. She asked to go outside and it is scorching hot afternoon, so I have to put her hat on.

And here she is, busy plucking the ixora flower. Tengah hari buta! Haishhh panas okkk. The hot weather doesn't stop her there, she's busy pushing her cart pulak. Kids, they can play anywhere they feel like to.

Mommy on the other hand, waiting anxiously under the roof. Sorry! Mommy puteri lilin :D


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The Sleeping War

I would like to share one story, about our sleepless night, having sleep war with Zahra, after Emir popped out.

The first night I was admitted (gave birth to Emir), my PIL helped to tuck Zahra in, and kira gamble habis. Because, Zahra never sleep without me. Not even once....in 1 year 10 months. So it was a disaster, as storied by my MIL. Zahra keep on waking up every hour and crying 'mamaaaa...dadddyyyy' and keep on pointing to my stuff and crying 'maaamaaa' again and again until morning.

Well that's not about it.

After I returned home, we decided to sleep separately, Zahra upstairs with MrComot and I'm downstairs in the confinement room with Emir. Big part of it because I don't want both babies wake up at the same time and I can't breatstfeed both of them yet. Emir has the priority. We gone cold turkey for 11 days and guess what? It almost drive us crazy!

Zahra keep on waking up every 2-3 hours and crying looking for me. Daddy pun dia tanak. The biggest reason is because she is so used to latch on me and she still wants it. I know it's partly my fault as I didn't wean her earlier but the thing is dia bukan minum sangat, she just want the comfort chest for her to hug. I read around and they said to wean a toddler at 2yrs old (zahra is 1y10m) is tough because they are emotionally attached.

And separating the sleep give huge impact to her. MrComot had to carry her downstairs upstairs repeat until she fell back to sleep, and do it again couple of hours later, again and again until morning. The impact not only affecting Zahra, but also MrComot. What happen to a human that doesn't have enough rest and sleep, and have to deal with a cranky toddler the next morning? A cranky monster! Hehe I'm exaggerating, takdela monster but kesian my hubby, penat sgt and that made him cranky as well. Dengan siang nya nak kena jaga Zahra, bath her, make her food, put her to nap (without me again), feed her, etc etc. It's an endless job..luckily he was on paternity leave for a week..so he can live with scarce sleep.

After 11 days of crying nights, I don't see our way working and coincidentally I spill my frustration over this situation to my makcik urut and she said;

'laaaa.....tido pisah ke. Patutla dia menanges..budak yg biasa susu memang mcm tu. Tido la skali..mesti tak apa-apa. Kesian dia'

And I gave it a hard thought, to sleep together with Zahra. Because once I do it, I can't fall back right? And it will ruined our hard 11-days of no-mummy-at-night training. If we want to fall back, it will start like zero days and might be tougher as she knows somehow she can get her mummy. But if it succeed, both of us can have our sleep.

Since MrComot is going back to work, I said jomlah we try Zahra sleeping with me and Emir. It was on Monday night, and guess what? It works!

Zahra sleep through out the night and so MrComot - get to get his sleep. Finally! If I know it will be this easy, I will do this from day 1 haha.

Anyway she woke up one or two times checking on me and I just say 'Zahra pegi bam balik, mummy ada' and she will fall back to sleep. Ocasionally she will want to latch, so I just give it like a minute or so and soothe her back to sleep and she's all alright. Phewwww...

Since it's not good for me to climb stairs during confinement, we squeeze everybody in the confinement room. Took out the baby cot and lay down cotton mattress and tripple up with 2 toto (cheap polyester mattress). It's not as comfortable as my bed, but it's good enough! Btw, it's queen sized so only 3 of us using the space. MrComot sleep outside at the hall on the ABC playmat. I asked him to sleep upstairs in the bedroom since I can manage both babies but he refused and said he can't hear me if he is upstairs, so whateverlah, as long as he can sleep peacefully :)


Our 'bed' with my two babies. Sleeping soundly as long as mommy is there.






The first thing that Zahra will do after wakes up, is to kacau her adik. Nak kiss la..nak sayang la.. She loves to rub Emir's head and face and when Emir open his mouth she will tell me Emir nak mamam haha. So comel.


The breastfeeding jealousy already toned down. She's fine now if I BF Emir, only sometimes she wants it too, so I have to give one side for her, one side for Emir. Susah jugak because sometimes dia macam compete with Emir. The faster Emir sucks, the faster she sucking too and drink all the milk. So I have to BF Emir longer for the refill and very tired as well. We are slowly weaning her and I'll share the story if we succeed!

Have a good weekend everyone!


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Sleeping Style

One thing I noticed about Emir, pandai betul tido mengiring. Siap kaki silang panggung and tangan bawah muka. Hehe..

Ps: Abaikan baju bunga2, semua baju Zahra punya! :p


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Confinement's Nom Nom

I miss blogging but I'm busy reading! It has been such a long time I didn't hold any book in my hands and confinement period give me the chance to indulge into it. Nanti I share my current reading.

Anyway, my confinement is a bit boring as I'm all alone, only me and Emir. But I get to sleep a lot, which is good. Plus my favourite tukang urut, K.Ain still couldn't come, and I had my berurut session with another tukang urut I found through agency. Ok la makcik tu, but still tak seterror K.Ain. I had 5 sessions with her and have another 3 pending sessions, that will be on the 20th, 30th and 40th day. After that I still want to see K.Ain for urut. If she can't come, I have to go to her house la :(

Despite the urut thing, I just wear long girdle and it helps! I feel more comfortable walking around compared to not wearing at all. Of course bengkung will be better but tak boleh la, since I have to move a lot, kalau pakai bengkung pun halfway je la..like few hours. I have to cook my lunch, have my bath, then bathe Emir, change his diaper, bf him, etc etc. So ladies, wear ur bengkung or at least girdle. It helps to support your womb, not to look cantik kurus ke apa. The womb still wobbly and soft, that is what K.Ain told me last time.

I skipped all the param pilis thingy because it is too hassle for me. I just make sure I eat right and don't move a lot. Hopefully ok la. Well, I do feel ok hehehe. Just to share with you all my confinement meals!


Steamed cod + ikan bilis w onions, pepper, ginger, goreng without minyak. This one prepared by MrComot. Anyway the ikan bilis is a trial recipe from my tukang urut and I don't quite like it. Maybe MrComot x pandai buat kut sebab the way makcik urut citer mcm sedap giler.



Grilled chicken thigh (salt n pepper only but yummehhh) with celery soup.



Grilled beef steak with salt pepper and choy sam soup. I grilled it in a slab, but the potong pakai gunting hehehe. Senang nak makan.



Chicken fillet fried with tumeric, onions, ginger, tomato, peas and garlic. Kannnnn.. Ayam goreng kunyit je nama sebenar.



Beef soup with leftover ayam goreng kunyit.


Overall it's a good food, takde la boring ke apa. I'm all ok as long as it's not ikan masin only hehehe, and as long as I get my soups. I'm a soupy girl, tak reti makab kering2. But the confinement food is a bit different between Chinese and Malay. As Malay, we can eat beef but not eggs and for Chinese, they eat eggs almost everyday but not meat. That's what my MIL told me lah. Anyway I already started to eat egg on my 18th day, telur dadar yg yummy because got lotsa onions and cili padi! Ooppss, makan sikit je cili padi..buat ubat hehe. Thank God Emir is ok, no sakit perut or whatever.

Oh not to forget, I loveeee plain grilled fish, meaning grill without salt then dip with soy sauce and onion cut. Tapi tu takde gambar pulak. But I can only eat selar. No kembung (mackarel) as they said can make the wound itchy. Basically you can only white meat fish, like cod, selar, white bawal, gelama, etc.

Talking about white bawal, I never know it's expensive! MrComot brought home 2 pieces at about my palm's size and it's RM20!

In between, I take hot milo with biscuits for snacks. You tend to be very hungry most of the time due to breastfeeding and I have at least 3 milo time in a day - morning, evening, and supper. Itu pun I budget2 because too much chocolate not good my digestion too. So I top up with milk, soy milk, and cheese. But nothing more satisfying than a mug of hot milo hmmmm....

As for supplement, I only take phytonatal (nona roguy), calcium and fish oil.

What else can I eat? If you guys have any idea, let me know! And recipes are welcomed! Tapi simple2 je please because I'm not that rajin to cook and wash up the dishes :)


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The Prince

We have decided the name!

Welcome to the world, Emir Qalef!

Actually we already agreed with Emir, only the second name tak decide. And I'm fine with one word name only, Emir bin Elias, simple kan? But MrComot insists to have two words sebab Zahra two words kan. And it will be nice if we can find name started with Z but semua tak berkenan. In the end, Qalef it is!

Anyway, Emir is derivation from Amir and it brings the meaning of Prince and Qalef (pronounce as Khalif, Caliph) means successor (in Islam, it has narrow meaning to successor of Muhammad SAW).

It has been 12 days and Emir is such an angel. He sleeps most of the time and is a healthy baby. In fact, he doesn't have jaundice like Zahra's last time, only the minor jaundice that incur in breastfed baby.

On the feeding, Alhamdulillah, he is on breastmilk all the time. I'm practicing tandem nursing now, and the milk is not that much yet, thus Emir has to latch longer for refill when Zahra drank his portion, but he's getting what he needs, that is what important. And Zahra don't fancy my milk anymore, she just wants to latch together with Emir. It's more to attachment/bonding and rivalry. If I initiate plays or activities, she will forget about the boobies. But the diversion is harder than I thought, have to be very patience about it.

One thing I notice about Emir, he is the 'penggeli' type. He will squirm and squirm and refuse any feeding when he poops! Even it's only a squirt. I guess because he can feel it with his crotch. And he will only sleep tight and latch after I cleaned him. While Zahra pulak tak kisah berak ke apa, kalau bagi latch je tak tolak! Haha. I just finished a whole pack 52 pieces of diaper within 8 days! Pitam mak macam ni.

The stool already changed from green moss to yellowish mustard and very loose. It's the common form for breastfed baby..so Alhamdulillah, he's doing well. His umbilical cord falls off on the 9th day, the belly button not totally dried, but doctor said it's fine as long as we keep it clean and dry. We don't use the alcohol swab anymore, just clean it with damped cotton ball and wipe it dry.

His sleeping pattern also tuning to ours. He sleeps through the night, and even he wakes up, I just breastfeed him and he will back to sleep. This time it's easier and calmer for me as I don't stress myself anymore and listen to the baby without thinking too much. It helps! It's not literally listen to them but it's like you observe them and feel it with your mother instinct, sure you will know what he wants and voila, tak banyak ragam, senang je nak handle. Maybe because it's my 2nd experience too. And a tip not to tire yourself out, breastfeed while baring! It is a bit uncomfortable for early few times but you'll get it somehow and breastfeeding and sleeping will be a breeze! I don't have to wake up to feed Emir anymore, just BF him while mengiring and check his diaper if he still uncomfortable or refuse the feeding.

I can't tell yet he has whose face, but he has my fingers, neat with nice fingernails *ahem* unlike Zahra, she got MrComot's, the type terkeluar kulit2 kat cuticle. Kesian ok hehehe. Tak kisah, janji it's not painful.

Below is few pics of Emir Qalef..tak ikut susunan, uploaded via my phone.



Emir day #1



Emir day #11



Emir day #6


My confinement also a bit chaotic this time as I'm all alone. My mom is unwell so she has to go back home since she can't really take care of me, and I don't hire any confinement lady, just have normal tukang urut to massage me. We send Zahra to babysitter so ok la..I can manage it. MrComot also get back to work today, but I'm doing ok, only that the house memang sarang kucing la. And coincidently all the part time maids we used to hire ada problem, we deal with 2 agencies before and one senyap je no response, the other one has no worker, haishhh. But I managed to get another contact and she's coming tomorrow. We'll see how.

Anyway I'm ok as I don't have to do anything, except taking care of Emir and cook my own lunch. It's simple and easy, I just pop beef steak with salt and pepper into the oven and made some choy sam soup. Cewahhhh choy sam tuuu..it's sawi btw hehehe.

Have a good Monday everyone!



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