pullman putrajaya getaway....

dear hubby had promised us for a getaway after my exam...he booked a night stay in pullman putrajaya before my exam result was out....so, i guess if i didn't make through it, i won't be enjoying my stay at pullman...alhamdulillah, i got through it and i really enjoyed myself with my beloved family at pullman....

the place was superb and marvellous exteriorly and interiorly....our room was cosy and spacious enough for Imtiaz to crawl all over...

the kids really enjoyed themselves at the pool...it's Imtiaz's first experience and he loved splashing the water....

we had good dinner along with my friend, Dahlia...she helped me in the exam by giving a one-to-one tutorial in obstetrics and gynaecology....

we got a good bargain for this stay...thumbs up to pullman....

humpty dumpty sat on the wall, little imti had a great fall...

well, the title of this entry tells it all....i blamed myself for it...lucky he was a strong boy...here's the story goes....

it was a week after my exam...i've cleared all the book from
my bed...put little Imti to sleep and i slept beside him...when he's up in the
middle of the night for milk, i would move myself to his left or right to get
him to my breast alternately...

the last feed was at 5 am...he sucked well and i dozed back
to sleep...i thought he was awake...he kicked my back but didn't make a sound
(usually he would make noisy babbles and squeak when he woke up)...

and then, BAM!!!! a loud thudding sound followed by a loud
cry...dear hubby saw my little Imti on the floor with his face down....my baby
fell from the bed....!!! he cried so loudly for about 10-15 min....and then i
saw blood mixed with his mucus from his nose...minimal but enough to tell you
his fall with face down had given a trauma to his nose...no other bleeders were
seen....

we managed to put him back to sleep and he slept for 2
hours....he woke up with a smiley face as if nothing happened...he was well
throughout the day apart from the swollen nose...i was assured there was no
broken nose bridge...no vomiting or cranky behaviour...alhamdulillah....

from that moment on, the parents learnt their lesson....we
made sure that the edge of the bed was well protected to avoid him from falling
again...

we didn't experience such fall with Jihan because the 3 of us
slept on the matress on the floor when she was small....

alhamdulillah...

it has been a while and now i'm back...yes, i was struggling with my exam, Part 1 Master of Medicine (Family Medicine), which was held last week in PPUKM....it was a scary and terrifying experience...the last time i had a major exam was 4 years ago...so, the feeling was so intense and i was so nervous...

my life was a torture...books were everywhere...the kids had to be managed b my dear hubby and my parents....i came in action only to breastfeed Imtiaz...i was down with a very bad fever 3 weeks before the exam..Imtiaz got it too and my life was a disaster....the fever settled after 5 days with the initiation of antibiotics....i gained back the strength to continue from where i left...at times i felt like giving up but Allah gave me the strength to carry on....Allah sent me friends to help me with my studies and that really helps...

i prayed to Allah to give me strength to face the exam and to give me and my friends success in the exam...i want to pass this exam very badly because i do not want to undergo the same stress again in another 6 months...i do not want to leave my children with improper attention from their mama again...i need to move on to the next level to accomplish my dreams...

during the exam days, i wasn't sure of my destiny....i left it all to Allah as He knows what is best for me...

waiting for the results was the longest 2 days of my life...i lost 1 kg in 2 days, i couldn't sleep and i was screaming in my sleep...

dear hubby had promised the kids to go for a short breakaway after i finished the exam...Jihan especially was so excited to go for splash in the swimming pool...on Friday afternoon, i went to get a swim suit for little Imtiaz....it was at the carpark i got a sms form my lecturer that the result was ready....i called her feeling shaky and trembling throughout....when she told me that i passed the exam, i was so relief and alhamdulillah, Allah granted my prayer...

i thank Allah for His mercy and blessing to me and my family...i thank my dear hubby for giving me the support and for taking care of the kids, my parents and my maid for taking care of everything else, my friends and lecturers for their supports, help and guidance...

and i did enjoy my 1 night stay at Pullman Putrajaya with my family....

breastfeeding tips

this is my EBM in my Medela cooler

my products today - 2 bottles of EBM with 2 sessions of pumping

yes, i'm the midst of exam stress.....my exam is less than 3 weeks away...and now, the kids are not in good health, both are having respiratory tract infections and that contributes to my stress as well...

but still, alhamdulillah i'm still breastfeeding Imtiaz fully....the milk supply is still good and able to keep going with Imtiaz's demand....

i have no particular tips actually but i'm telling you what i have been doing...you can try them, insya allah they'll work for you as well....

• regular pumping session at work and also at home - this is a must for me at work...i scheduled myself regularly to pump at around 10-11 am, then 1-2pm and if i'm coming home late, i'll pump at 5pm...sometimes i pump only 1 side on the way back home so that i can feed Imtiaz straight away with the other breast...and when the supply is not that great, i make an attempt to pump at home too...it doesn't matter if at that session i only managed to get 1 oz, or sometimes even 0.5 oz....but pump more so that i can add them and after 4-5 pumping session i'll be able to produce 1 feed for Imtiaz...

• i wait longer to get the 2nd let down reflex- i usually get about 2-3 oz at 1 go....i'm using the old Medela Pump=In=Style...so i do my own stimulation phase after the first go....maximize the speed and minimize the suction...i'll watch Imtiaz's video on my phone and wait for the 2nd let down reflex....and i'm able to get 1-2 oz extra....that is sufficient for Imtiaz one feed...sometimes i waited for the 3rd let down reflex....and limit each pumping session to only 30 minutes because i can't afford to let my patients wait for me longer than that...

• drink and drink and drink - i realized that Milo works for me....plain water too...it doesn't matter what you drink but drinking water or any other drinks help to make more milk...and currently i take Sacred Tea to boost up milk supply...it kinds of hel p too....

• direct breastfeeding at home- i make sure that i directly nurse Imtiaz at home... NO EBM for him if i'm at home with him...the more he sucks, the more milk is produced....sometimes he wants it every 1/2 hour....i simply give him...you might think the boop is empty because your baby just fed from it....NO, our boops constantly make milk....with stimulation from your baby, it will be expelled out from our boops...

i think that's all i've been doing...the other thing is be confident with the milk supply...i only managed to express about 4 oz each session nowadays compared to my earlier days when Imtiaz was exclusively breastfeeding, i got 7-8 oz each time...now he has eat solid food and my breasts are producing what he actually takes....

and i'm strongly believe that i am able to continue breastfeeding Imtiaz up to 2 years, insya allah...

little shaolin....

let the photos tell you the story...

we start at the back...

ayo, mamak...you tilt my head...

half side gone...

owwww!!! don't cut my ear....

hey, mamak!!! what have you done to my hair hah???

i need a shoulder to cry on...

do i look like rosyam nor in castello..?

but i'm still mama and papa's little shaolin....

hand, foot mouth disease (HFMD)

the whole family is QUARANTINED!!!!

Jihan and i got HFMD....and we are totally clueless where we got it from....i haven't seen such aptients before i was on raya leave and there was not a single case in Jihan's school...we probably contracted the disease during hari raya, but we wonder where was the source...

anyway, what happened was both of us had low grade fever and sorethroat with ILI symptoms but they were not that severe to disturb our daily activities and the duration was very transient....so we thought it was a normal upper respiratory tract infection...the next day Jihan said she had mouth pain, probably mouth ulcer due to too much drinking and eating all the kuih raya and stuffs...no other suspicious symptoms to suggest anything highly contagious or sinister...

on Wednesday, i realized i got a few tender nodules and blisters on the back of my hand.....i didn't pay much attention to it...i was on leave because i wanted to study for the exam...then i went back, Jihan couldn't eat because of painful sorethroat and mouth...we inspected her mouth and there were multiple ulcers and herpengina at the back of her mouth, palate and tongue...then we discovered multiple red spots on her feet, then hands....gosh!!! it really looked like HFMD...and i looked at my hands and oh my...i couldn't be getting it too...?? it rarely affects adult and sometimes it comes unnoticed...

the next day, i showed the lesions to my specialist...with the given history and suggestive physical symptoms, i was confirmed to have HFMD...and there were multiple ulcers in my mouth too but i didn't feel it that painful and i was able to eat normally....Jihan too was seen by my specialist and both of our cases were notified to the health authority....

HFMD is a notifiable disease that needs to be notified within 24 hours of diagnosis....it is highly contagious and treatment is just supportive and symptomatic...hygiene is very important and that's how the disease can be curbed....

we are recovering now...Jihan is able to tolerate orally better...her school is taking every measures to disinfect all their cutleries and picking up cases with similar symptoms to be checked by doctors....

i found a very good website regarding the disease, worthwhile to read about it...

http://www.sarawak.health.gov.my/hfmd.htm

hari raya preparations....

syawal is just around the corner and that means ramadhan is leaving us for this year....hopefully, we are still able to meet ramadhan in years to come....there are lots of barakah in the month of ramadhan and i'm going to miss ramadhan this year...

i love this year's ramadhan...throughout the month, we only experienced homecooked food cooked by either me, my mum or our maid...but most of them were my mum's....it was only yesterday that we had iftar outside with our friends in Serdang....

as i'm in the middle of preparing my exam, i made sure all the baju raya were bought at the beginning of ramadhan...due to the economic downturn, it's not the best time to spend lavishly for hari raya....the kids got a suit of baju kurung/baju melayu each, a 2 pieces of casual wear each...for me 2 baju kurung that i can wear to work as well, hubby 1 baju melayu...shoes...? we bought jihan a pair of comfy shoes that she wears to school as well, and for Imtiaz, he's not walking yet so no need for shoes...he got the shoes that i won in a giveaway, he could wear that if he wants...if not just socks would be nice for him...kuih raya..? my mum made them with my help...i'm not baking any on my own as i need to study for the exam...

that should be enough, i think...we have prepared the duit raya packets to give out to the children as well...cuti raya..? well, i'll be working till friday but then on leave until the mid week after raya...but i'm taking those extra leaves to study....i need to progress so much for the exam...oh, gosh! and hubby is oncall on 2nd raya, then he'll be back working on thursday...

and jihan and imtiaz got another pair of baju kurung/baju melayu from wan and atuk...that completes our preparation for this year's raya....

imtiaz's first food

finally, imtiaz's is already 6 month old...so it's time for his first food!...we were all very excited to feed him with his first food...and alhamdulillah, a pat on my back too for successfully exclusive breastfed him for 6 months...yeay!

so, i decided to give him carrot puree as his very first food...i opted for natural, homemade food as jihan had previous history to manufactured baby's food during her weaning....so, it is better, healthier and safer to give imtiaz a homemade food to prevent allergy reaction....

i started preparing his food after sahur....i cleaned and cut the carrot into small pieces and steamed it until soften...then i pureed the carrot till smooth...when about to feed him, i add some breastmilk to the puree to give it a smoothie consistency...i refrigerated the rest of the puree for lunch and dinner...

the first bite, he gave me a weird face, then he started to lick all corners of his mouth....it was a fun experience for him and for us who watched him till he finished a tablespoonful of puree....he still breastfeed in between the feeds and on the first day of weaning, he already took 3 meals per day...! he simply loves meal time....!

today, he had carrot and potato puree plus breastmilk....and for tomorrow, he'll have potato and spinach puree....even though imtiaz has started on solid food, i still breastfeed him and plan to do so until he is at least 2 years old....

let's pray for this little boy....

a friend of mine who is also Jihan's school principle (The Little Caliph Bandar Seri Putra), delivered a baby boy about 4 months ago... but it's not always sunny out there, her baby was diagnosed with a heart condition called Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), or in other word "a hole in heart"...

he was born with the weight of 3.0kg but already showed symptoms of heart failure at early age such as, rapid breathing, very breathless and excessive sweating when feeding, bluish discolouration of his lips and fingers when crying (cyanosis) and did not gain weight satisfactorily....in fact when he was first admitted to the hospital, his weight reduced to 2.6kg....

he was given antifailure medications and was nursed in the hospital for quite some time before discharged home...he was fed via Ryle's tube (feeding tube through the nose) so that he won't become tired if fed through normal route (sucking)...

unfortunately, he was again admitted to the hospital for heart failure symptoms and stayed there until transferred recently to IJN for a heart surgery....

today, as scheduled, this baby boy through a major operation to close the hole in his heart so that he will regain his normal physiological function of his heart and grow up healthily....

let's pray for the safety of this baby, Taib Muhammad Nafis and his family, so that Allah will give them the strength that they need at this point of time...

surviving fasting month while breastfeeding...

first of all, salam ramadhan to all my viewers....may Allah bless us with ggood health and iman...this is my 2nd experience fasting while fully exclusively breastfeeding my children...the first one was 4 years ago, at that time Jihan was about 4 months old....and i survived without having to break fast earlier due to excessive tiredness or for whatsoever reason...but at that time, during ramadhan i got my first menses after i gave birth....so still i have to replace my fasting...

but this time, Imtiaz is 5 months old + and about a few more days to his solid food....i'm glad i'm on leave at the beginning of ramadhan so i can rest too....

so the first day of sahur, i ate few kurma and bread and drank a lot of plain water and nutritious malt drink...i was able to complete my fasting that day despite fully breastfeeding little Imtiaz on his demand...i was able to pump my milk twice and expressed about 2 oz each time just to empty my breasts....i did not feel tired or thirsty and alhamdulillah, Imtiaz was full and satisfied after each feed....

subsequently, i make sure that i drink a lot of water at night time..well, i only drink mainly during breaking fast...and eat healthily and a lot too...!

think positive and be calm too help...not to think much about how much milk i can produce and pump out for Imti....it's ok if i can get only 2 oz each time, but i have to increase the frequency (especially at night and early morning) to meet the demand of my little boy...

Imtiaz is currently taking about 4oz of expressed breastmilk each time, about 4-5 times during my working hours....i usually prepare about 5-6 bottles of newly expressed breastmilk in the fridge...those were the milk expressed 1 -2 days earlier... and i have about 20 bottles of frozen breastmilk in stock which i have never use to feed Imti (thanks to our side-by-side Samsung refrigerator, i can use 1 whole shelf for Imti's frozen milk) ...i believe that the fresh one is better than the frozen one...but i will resort to the frozen one if really, really needed....i'll probably use them to make Imtiaz's fruit or vegetable puree later...

be back working next week after this long leave...hopefully i'll survive this ramadhan in good health...

Jamuan Teh Malaysia

about 2 weeks ago, me and a few friends have gathered at my house to take part in Jamuan Teh Malaysia as our social responsibility to the public....we had good foods, good stories to exchange and at the end of the day, we emptied our pockets to contribute to the National Canser Society Malaysia (NCSM) and the Breast Cancer Welfare Association (BCWA)....

alhamdulillah, we managed to colect a few hundreds and it had been handed over to the NCSM...

thanks friends for the superb foods and the supports...!

5th month vaccination and update

last week we went for Imtiaz's 5th month vaccination of triple antigen and Hepatitis B...he weighs 7.4kg....and he still feed solely on mama's milk....

Imtiaz can now turn from supine to prone to supine, eagerly reach out his hands to grab whatever is given to him, laugh out loud especially when Jihan make some funny movement in front of him and put everything in his hand inside his mouth (to show that he is ready to eat)...

Prof B was very satisfied with Imtiaz's development...during the jab, Imtiaz let his loud voice out....! so painful...!

and good thing, he did not have fever after the jab...good boy!

he is due for the meninggococcal vaccination next month....and ready for his first food next month, yeay!

the road isn't always smooth as you want it to be...

today, i feel like blogging about my breastfeeding journey, particularly with my little Imti currently...alhamdulillah, i am still able to fully breastfeed him and i'm proud to say that Imti is exclusively fed with my breastmilk only....so far, i have good supply of breatmilk and i 'm able to produce more than his demand...

i'm going through a hard working life now...i'm doing my attachment in HKL and i travel almost 100km everyday, from home to work...it takes me about 45min - 1 hour to work and the same duration back home, depending on the weather and road condition of the day...i wake up at 5 or 5.30 everyday to express my milk and get ready to work....i have my breakfast in the car in the traffic jam or at the carpark when i arrive in HKL.... i've been doing this routine for the past 2 months + and it's going to end soon...since starting this routine, i always pray that Allah make it easier for me to express my milk at the designated time (every 3-4 hourly) and my prayer has been answered most of the time...

but being an attachment medical officer at a very huge hospital is not easy....i have to struggle to do my job as a pumping and breastfeeding mama....many people think that working in an environment of baby-friendly hospital makes you easier to to carry yourself as a breastfeeding mum, but that's not always true...sometimes i couldn't find the right place to express my milk and people look at me weirdly...the medical staffs seem not to know that you can express the milk and store them in the refrigerator for your baby to feed the next day! and some gave a disgusting look at my face trying to tell me that, "i'm not going to do that when i have kids later.."..some even made fun of me.......sometimes i have to beg the owner of the place to use a corner of the room for me to express my milk...but some of them were really nice, they really gave me the freedom to use their space for 20 minutes for me to do my job...

at one time, my breastpump and its apparatus were purposely locked in a room because they didn't want an intruder messing around with their stuffs inside the room...i was left with engorged breasts for more than 7 hours...when the door is opened, i got my stuffs and ended up expressing in the car on a very hot afternoon...

there were times, somebody (male colleagues/staffs) just stormed into the room while i was expressing, luckily i was wearing the nursing poncho to cover....

i realized that my milk production reduced than the norm these few days but still sufficient for Imti's need.... probably i am a bit stress as well....so i express more at home to stimulate the milk production and it kind of help....

perhaps, there's more can be done to educate the public as well as the medical personnels regarding breastfeeding...it's my dream to do this professionally in the near future...may Allah bless my good intention and make this dream a reality...

Breastfeeding Day 2009

Breastfeeding Week is celebrated worldwide on the first week of August yearly....and this year , i am proud to celebrate this wonderful event together with my breastfeeding baby....in fact, this is my 1st year celebrating it as a breastfeeding mum!...when Jihan was born in 2005, i wasn't aware of such event, so i missed the boat....the subsequent years, i already stopped breastfeeding and i was busy doing my oncalls, so there goes my chance to support the event...and this year, with the born of my little prince, i made an attempt not to miss this auspicious event!

it was organized by susuibu.com and Majlis Perbandaran Kajang, held at Dewan MPKJ Kajang, last Saturday....the 3 of us (me, hubby and Imti - Jihan had to stay home as she had cough and cold), woke up early and arrived in time for the ceremony...we took part in the Breastfeeding-thon where mums breastfed their babies for 5 minutes at the same time together...there were at least 30 pairs of mums and babes participating....Imti couldn't wait for the event, so he started about 10 minutes earlier as he was so hungry...

i was so happy to meet my breastfeeding mentor, Puan Kamariah of susuibu.com and Puan Rita Rahayu of momslittleones, and i made new friends with other breastfeeding mums too...i was surprised to meet the silent reader of my blog, Salwa...thanks for saying hi and acknowledging yourself to me...really nice meeting you...

we had potlucks party...i brought kuih talam labu berlauk....

i hope to participate and support such event next year and i pray that i am still breastfeeding Imtiaz at that time...

Imti sits in the bumbo seat...

that's the jumbo thigh!!!

i tried to sit Imti in Jihan's bumbo seat yesterday...(arghh, the seat looks very much worn out and the bright yellow colour has blackish smudge on it...)..that didn't matter, that's for being number 2 in the family, Imti..you'll get hand-over stuffs....whatever..!

Imti was very delighted seeing the yellow seat...when i put him inside, oh my gosh!!!...his thighs won't fit in the legs compartment..!!! i had to push them in and then he sat comfortably in it...

he laughed and played in the seat for a while then i took him out of it...goshhh!!! another problem...his thighs got stuck in the legs compartment...! someone, please pull the chair off Imti...!! hahahah...!!!

oh, my..! Imti..you better start on your leg exercise...make your thigh slimmer please....