Friday, November 23, 2007

Chubby cheeks..



Baby Alysha at 1 month old.. How time flies..

It felt like I just brought her home yesterday..

Take your time, sweetheart.. No rush..

Every moment is precious, how I wish that I can just be with her 24/7 and don't have to go to work.. 
To be there for her first laugh.. first crawl.. first step.. first word..

Sigh..

Friday, November 16, 2007

Breastfeeding benefits

Whenever I feel tired or drained from breastfeeding my daughter, I have this article to look back on.. to prevent myself from reaching that can of formula milk.. ;p~

Breastfeeding has numerous health benefits both for you and your baby.

You have spent nine months nourishing your precious baby in your womb; why start feeding him nutritionally inferior cows' milk when you have your own wonderful breastmilk?

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BEST CHOICE FOR BABY:

1. Your breastmilk is organic and tailormade for your baby. A living substance, it is much superior to formula milk.

Your breastmilk is specific to your baby’s requirements.

In the first few days of breastfeeding, colostrum, is produced. A creamy, yellowish formula, rich in antibodies, it protects your baby from illness whilst his own immune system develops.

Mature breastmilk replaces colostrum within a few days. This milk has two distinct qualities. At the beginning of a feed the baby receives light thirst-quenching fore-milk. Shortly afterwards hind-milk is produced. Hind-milk is thick, creamy and nourishing and satisfies the baby’s hunger.

Breastmilk changes consistency according to such things as hot weather - when it will be more thirst-quenching. Breastfed babies do not require water between feeds.

2. Breastmilk prepares the baby for the variety of tastes he will come across in later life. Constantly changing flavour it is sometimes sweet, spicy, nutty and so on. Therefore, it is a gentle introduction to the outside world.

3. Breastmilk is nutritionally superior to cows milk; and easier to digest. So it allows the baby’s digestive system a chance to develop - making intolerances and allergies less likely. UNICEF states that breastmilk:

‘contains all the nutrients, antibodies, hormones, antioxidants and other factors an infant needs to thrive.'

Breastfed babies are less likely to suffer from childhood cancers, eczema and asthma. And if a breastfed baby does get ill, the illness is often less severe than it would otherwise have been.

4. Breastfeeding reduces the likelihood of inner ear infections, such as glue ear. A breastfed baby's sucking action is different to that of a bottle-fed baby. So, it helps to keep the ears healthy.

5. Breastfed babies brains develop more quickly.They have higher IQ's. Jaws and teeth develop with fewer problems than bottlefed babies. Speech development is also more advanced.

6. Mum's immune system is constantly on the look out for infection and illness. When it detects anything white blood cells flood her milk and therefore baby has an improved immune response. As a result gastroenteritis, a nasty tummy bug, is much less prevalent in breastfed babies.

7. Breastmilk is always available on demand and is always the correct temperature and consistency for the baby.

8. No sterilising is required!

9. Baby can always be comforted when distressed or ill. Sucking on a lovely soft mummy-smelling breast is extremely comforting. It is also much less harmful to teeth than a sugary drink or feed.

10. No packaging or processing is involved in supplying breastmilk; so breastfeeding protects the environment. Baby will grow up in a cleaner world!

Monday, November 12, 2007

Alysha Nadya Bte Muhammad Azmi..

Well.. Finally she's here.. Took me quite some time to post coz I was extremely busy with the little one..

Loving every minute of being a mother. Seriously, motherhood is not for the wimps.. I dun think that sentence needs any explanation at all. It speaks for itself. Sometimes I wonder what will happen if men can experience the joy of giving birth. *chuckles* And I've asked hubby, why there are some men who cheated/lied/'whatever' to their wives even after witnessing her going through the pain of labour. Jerks!!

Anyway, here's my labour experience.. I posted it in a forum and will just cut and paste it here. It's in a mixture of malay and english. Heh.. sorry for those who don't understand it.

22 Oct 07
ard 8am hubby tgh siap2 nak gi kerja. My perut dari semalam rasa tak sedap. asik memulas and contractions is regular enuff to make me panic. nak buang air besar pun takut pasal takut teran2 and benda lain yg kluar. so juz baring atas katil and hope that it's juz false alarm. lagipun i dunnoe if i should err on the side of caution and juz go KK to serah diri.

finally i discuss with hubby and he said better go KK and check.

sebelom kluar, hubby suruh minum air kelapa, susu and then MIL siapkan air milo dgn telur mentah. mak ai.. sebelom sampai hospital dah rasa nak terkucil2..

went to labour ward and coincidentally, my gynae Dr KT Tan pun ada kat situ. she seluk me and said pintu blom bukak and ask if i want to induce. CTG reading shows contraction is regular tapi not so strong. Dr cakap kalau induce and pintu tak bukak2, then must c-section.
called hubby over the phone as he was not allowed to be with me. i told him that i want to induce and just get it over with sebab dah tak sabar. i have been having sleepless nites the past couple of days, my nose bleeding everyday and my lutut sakit. lagipun kalau i balik and wait, on the 25th pun kena induce jugak. so mite as well do it on that day itself.

i was moved to delivery suite and the prostin tablet was inserted. Blue sms me and said that she's on the way to KK as her back dah start sakit2. excited giler seh masa tu pasal tak sangka that we are really going to giv birth together on the same day! then the waiting game started. sempat posing amik gambar and hantar to my sis.. hehehe.. then dinner was served. makan pun tak selera pasal too excited.

bila dah move to normal ward, me and hub jalan2 kat bawah hoping to make my cervix dilate faster. masa ni masih bleh gurau2 ketawa2 senyum2.. i was completely unaware of the extreme pain in store for me at that time. bila dah kul 8 lebih, hub terpaksa balik. sms blue and ask her if i can visit her since i am at ward 81 and she's at ward 82. tapi nurse tak kasi jalan2. bleah..

bit by bit the pain start getting more intense. my sis sms me to ask if i dah beranak. ish.. apalah punya soalan. tried to watch tv to distract myself from the pain. pusing kiri, kanan, duduk, diri.. nyangkung.. semua nyer tak selesa. mata ngantuk sangat tapi tak bleh tido coz of the pain. at that point of time, i dah almost 48 hrs tak tido.

dr on duty came in and ask how i am coping with the pain. he said that if i dah tak tahan, let the nurses know and they will wheel me to the delivery suite to giv me painkiller. masa tu i masih rasa gagah and told him that the pain still bearable.

kul 2.30am, dah tak tahan sakit. picit bell and told the nurse that the pain is keeping me awake. nurse cakap,'the tablet is supposed to make u feel like that. i can't give you any sleeping pills.' sigh.. then i said,'i never ask for any sleeping pills....' terus i macam giv up nak bobual ngan nurse tu and just tell her that i want to go to delivery suite and get pain reliever. she said she will prepare it for me. called hubby and tell him to come down now.

tunggu punya tunggu.. nurse tu tak tiba2.. darah pun dah up up and away..

kul 2.50am. suddenly, my waterbag pun burst. i picit butang tu lagi and the same nurse yg datang. i told her that my waterbag dah burst barulah dia kelam kabut buat kerja. it was a weird feeling being wheeled away to the delivery suite with water trickling down. nasib baik tgh pagi2 buta. kalau tgh hari, mesti malu seh coz i left a trail of water. macam non-stop gitu.

nurse chk my cervix and said only 1.5cm dilate. alamak.. bila nak game ni. dlm 15 min gitu, hubby pun sampai. blue sms and said that she's been in delivery suite since 2.30am and dia kat bilik sebelah jer. nurse ajar macam mana nak pakai gas mask but idong ni tersumbat so i can't feel the full effect. tapi bila dapat sedut gas mask tu betul2, barulah i relak sikit. berterbangan kat awangan2 then bila hubby buat joke sikit, me ketawa melebih2.. sempat offer tu gas mask to hubby for him to try.. hahahaha..

dapat tido sekejap. then nurse masok and put on the oxytoxin drip to make the contraction stronger. from here on, i dah tak take note of the time sangat. dia punya sakit, macam nak patah pinggang. told hubby,'the next time i complain abt my menses cramp, pls remind me of my labour pain.'

orang sms for my labour progress pun i tak layan sangat. sebok sedut itu gas mask tapi once in a while kena clear the hingus in my nose first b4 i can get the syiok feeling. abis tu, the nurse tu asik increase the dosage for the drip. i was beginning to hate that oxytoxin thing. dah start bobual nonsense ngan hubby. teringat one of them was for him to get a good step-mother for my daughter kalau i cannot make it today pasal teringat citer ratapan anak tiri.. hubby pun malas nak layan. his mulut kumat kamit baca doa and hembus on my face.

asked the nurse for pethidine. lepas inject, still rasa pain but a bit bearable. i tink by this time dah lunch time and i asked hubby to go hav his lunch first since my cervix baru dilate 2.5 cm. nurse naik kan the dosage lagi to the maximum level. rasa macam nak cabut jer the tube on my hand. while alone, i zikir and baca doa to distract from the pain.

bila hubby balik, dia tgk me dah meronta2 kat atas katil. rasa macam nak tercabut nyawa and i begged the nurse to lower the dosage. nurse tu explained that my progress is very slow and if she lowered it, chances are that my cervix will not dilate any further. by this time, the contraction is only 1 min apart.

at 3pm, midwife chk my cervix again and see that i only dilate 3cm. she said that if my 6pm, my cervix tak dilate fully, they will hav to perform c-section on me pasal the baby kat dalam dah kering. she advice me to take epidural coz she tgk me tense up my muscle everytime a contraction comes and it kinda prevents my cervix from dilating. in my mind dah buat calculation. lagi 3 more hrs to 6pm. 3hrs = 180 mins. that means i will hav to endure almost 180 times of this pain till 6pm and then kalau tak bukak2, kena operate. told hubby abt this and he said to go ahead and take the epi. i rather have something up my spine then go thru a major operation.

so they pun kasi i epidural. the pain was still there and the dr pun heran sebab i told her that my legs are not numb at all. they increase the epi pun sama. i tink they masuk kan ard 3 bottles of epidural barulah i rasa the numbness in my legs but the contraction pain is still there cuma tak teruk sangat lah.

dah lepas 30 min, nurse chk and see that i dah 5cm dilate. alhamdulillah, syukur tak terhingga. she can feel my baby's head already. asked the midwife abt blue's progress next door and she said that her doc was chkin on her. dia pun excited when i told her that both of us know each other. then lepas tak berapa min gitu, i told the nurse that i feel like passing motion. she chked again and said that i dah fully dilate!

punyer lah happy at that time. so she prepared me for the pushing part. hubby hold my left leg and bila contraction datang, she asked me to push. another midwife masuk to assist and jadi cheerleader. bila tgh push tu, teringat that someone kat PDC suruh push macam nak buang air besar. so i just push sekuat ati tapi takut jugak nanti bukan baby yg kluar. hehehe..

bila hubby cakap he can see the head already, fuh, makin bersemangat lah i teran. then my gynae masuk and marah me,'see... if u take epidural siang2, dah beranak agaknyer.' she ask me to giv 1 mighty push, then she gunting my 'ehem' and pull the baby out. punyerlah lega and happy when she hold the baby out for me to see and pass it to hubby utk dia azankan. bila the placenta dah kluar, sakit semua ilang and when she stitched me, i distracted myself by admiring my baby. macam tak percaya that she came out from me. Alysha Nadya Bte Muhd Azmi was born on 23/10/07 at 6.07pm. height 47cm and weight 3.330kg.

PS: in case u r wondering who is 'blue', she's actually another forummer who has the same EDD as me n gav birth in the delivery suite next to mine..

after Baby Alysha was cleaned, the midwife passed her to me to 
be breastfed. It was the best feeling in the world! it didn't really
matter that it hurt and it still hurt when i try to breastfeed here
now. the feeling is like having ur nipple pierced, everytime she
wants to suckle..

and that is why, motherhood is not for the wimps.. hehehhee..

here's some pic of my little angel.. (who kept me up all nite with her voracious appetite.. but i still love her soooo much!)