Precious 2011

My Mom's a Genius: How to feed Meds to Your Baby

This method only works if your baby uses a pacifier. And if your baby isn't the kind to cry at the taste of medicine.

Basically, give your baby the pacifier, only halfway into the mouth and push it slightly to the side to keep her mouth open.

Using the syringe (or whatever medicine feeding thingamajig you have), squirt a little of the medicine in and push the pacifier right into the mouth right after. This will activate her suckling reflex and so instead of spitting out, she will swallow.

Repeat until you've managed to give her the recommended dosage.

Some of the liquid will still come out but it helps keep more in than it usually would.

And yes, my mom came up with this while we were trying to give Hana some gripe water yesterday. Genius! :)

Tenth

Today, Hana turns 3. Months, that is :)

Two-month old Hana

These are personal milestones. I don't quite like looking at the general milestone chart because I am told that every baby is different and I wholeheartedly agree with that!

She's started talking to us (in her own language of course!) And - many people don't seem believe this but - I do believe that she's made up her own words for my husband and I, and my sister who comes over to help me take care of her a lot. I was certain, at first that the sounds she made were random sounds, but it was too much of a coincidence that she would make different (but constant) sounds when having 'conversations' with us.

She's started paying attention to her environment. I think her eyesight range has improved. She can now lie down on her playmat that Epol's colleagues gave us and talk to the things hanging on the 'pillars'.

She's also started to try and imitate our facial expressions. Just this morning, she wanted her milk and was on the verge of crying. But when I smiled at her, she smiled back as if she couldn't resist. Then she gave a little grimace and attempted to cry again but then I called her name and smiled at her again and she smiled back. LOL. I can tell that when she looks at us and our facial expressions, she isn't just looking. Her little brain is actively working to figure out how we make those expressions

She mostly sleeps through the night. Her last feed will be around 11. 1 at the latest and depending on what time she does fall asleep, she'll wake up anytime between subuh to 9 o'clock.

She loves car rides. She seems to be fine with the carseat and sits there quietly, looking out at the scenery passing by. But if no one is sitting next to her, she will cry when the car stops, even for a few seconds at a traffic light.

And now she's very very manja! If the two of us aren't home or we leave her with one of her grandmothers to babysit, she will either 'cembeng' right before we leave or as soon as we get back and pick her up. But she doesn't make a fuss while she's with them, which is great. And when she's done with her cembeng and merajuk (only lasts a few minutes), she'll start giving the sweetest little smiles at whoever's holding her.

And so, I present to you my happy little tembam princess:

Hello Hana :)

Name: Hana Amira
DOB: Wednesday, 10th August 2011, 1.52pm
Weight at birth: 2.86kg

Chronology of Events:

I started feeling very mild contractions on the 9th in the late afternoon, only I didn't know they were contractions at the time. We had friends over for iftar that day, and we joked around about how the baby might come while we were eating. I started timing the pain, and they seemed to come at regular intervals but I couldn't be sure, and since they weren't all that painful, I thought that maybe I had a case of wind. After saying goodbye to our friends, we cleared up and went to sleep.

3.00am - I woke up because the pain was more intense. I still didn't realise they were contractions. I thought I ate something bad and had to go to the bathroom, but then I noticed period-like blood, and then it hit me that this was it. I woke Epol up and we got ready and took off.

4.00am - I was admitted to the labour suite of Pantai Hospital, KL, at which point they started monitoring my contractions and the baby's heartbeat.

It's all a blur between then and the actual delivery. I remember certain events, but I don't remember the time they happened. There was a lot of pain involved. And some rage on my part. But basically -

My mom arrived, and I was in too much pain at that point, so they gave me a jab and I drifted in and out of sleep. My personal view is that the jab did absolutely nothing to ease any of the pain, it just made me sleepy and drowsy.

The doctor came in at some point and saw that I was in a lot of pain, told the nurse to give me the Entonox. She handed me the thingy and told me to just inhale whenever I felt the contractions.

After a few hours of inhaling, and the gas not helping at all, I asked if it was too late to ask for an epidural. Obviously, it was too late because I was around 8cm dilated at that point. I was in so much pain that I was delirious. I found the nurse super annoying because my body kept telling me to push, but she was telling me (in her obnoxiously loud, bingit voice) not to. I yelled at her, and then she thought to check the Entonox.

As it turned out, I had been inhaling NOTHING for the past few hours because the genius nurse who handed me the gas thingy had not switched the damn thing on. Not only was there not painkilling gas to help me, I was also operating on less oxygen sebab I literally had the thing plastered to my face the whole time in anticipation of the contractions.

So she finally switched it on. But it also did absolutely nothing for the pain. Lol.

At around 1, I was fully dilated, and although the doctor hadn't arrived yet, he gave the go ahead for the nurse to get me ready and prompt me to push, since I kept pushing before I was ready.

As it turned out, the lack of food and oxygen meant that I had absolutely no strength. The doctor could see the baby's head coming out when I did push, but then when I stopped, she'd go back in. They put the heartbeat monitor back on, which showed that my baby's heartbeat had gone below 100 bpm, obviously not a good thing.

At that point, the doctor decided to vacuum her out.

When they finally put her on my tummy, I was too stunned to realise what was going on until seconds later.

But Alhamdulillah, she came out perfect, safe and sound, no thanks to her mummy yang takde energy langsung ni! :P

Week 38

1. "Menunggu masa" katanya.

2. Had a false alarm last week. I thought I was getting contractions but I wasn't :P

3. Pre-washed the baby clothes, blankets, towels, diapers - anything that's gonna be touching the baby's skin

4. Gotten most of the essentials, thanks to the Parenthood Expo last week - carseat, swaddle, cot, bedding, stroller, baby-safe detergent, bathtub, almost everything lah. Still a few items which we're leaving to the last minute, tapi it should be ok kot.

5. FINALLY packed the hospital bag, thanks to that false alarm I had. I've been procrastinating this one. Tak tau la kenapa liat sangat.

6. Still doing research. Takut woo. I have no idea how to hold a newborn baby, no idea if I'll be doing anything right, no idea how to do ANYTHING. T.T

Anyway, wish me luck!

Of Having a Bun in the Oven

It's almost week 38, and I realise that I haven't yet expressed how almost being a mother makes me feel. They're all there - the feelings - all mixed up. I'm scared, excited, super happy, contented, all choked up - my feelings, having a hell of a party.

It's just such an amazing feeling, and it's certainly been an amazing journey so far. Having this little living, breathing, kicking bundle of joy inside my womb - it's like nothing I've ever experienced before. Everytime I feel her move, everytime she kicks, every little hiccup makes me so happy and I thank Allah everyday for the chance to live it.

For more than nine months, I've been responsible, not only for myself, but for her. She's probably the most important person in my life, and she hasn't even come out yet. I haven't even seen or met her yet, and I already feel more love for this little person than for some of the people I've known almost my whole life.

I have no idea what kind of mother I'm going to make. It scares me that I'm going to be responsible for every single little thing that she goes through when she comes out. I'm terrified of how I'm going to handle her getting sick, or being upset, or getting hurt. I'm absolutely terrified of not being ready to accept such a big responsibility, but I'm certainly gonna do my best for my little baby.

To my friends who read this blog, if I don't manage to say this before I go into the labour room, I hope you forgive me for any wrongdoings I've ever committed throughout the years we've known each other. I hope you can spare some time to pray for my little baby H and I, that we both come out of the labour room safe and healthy. :)

35 weeks

1. The baby's weight is estimated to be around 2.18kgs - and apparently she's small for her age.

2. The mommy's weight gain is now 10kgs. Just a few days ago I was telling one of my besties that I've gained less than 10kgs. *nangis*

3. I've managed to book us a place at an antenatal class for next week. This comes pretty late since there's always a chance the baby decides to come out early, but at least I won't have to take refresher courses, since it's near the due date.

4. My OBGYN advised me against fasting during Ramadhan. He says that it will affect the baby. I'm a little disappointed because that will mean that I'll really be missing out this year. No puasa, no raya and a whole month of puasa to replace. But I guess it's worth it, for the sake of the little one.

5. I've also managed to confirm a confinement lady, which is a HUGE relief because I started asking around at the last minute, and I noticed that there seem to be a lot of women due around the same time I am.

And that's about it :)

Favourite Spot

My baby has found a new favourite spot:

She lodges herself right below my right ribcage and sticks her elbow/knee out to my right really hard, effectively making it uncomfortable for me to sit in any position.

What's crazy is that I love her all the more for it sebab comel! lol.

Week 30

My Updates:
I'm in my third trimester already. How time flies! Anyway, the growth of my belly has started to take a toll on my body, sebab my back hurts and I find it hard to sleep every night. Suggestions from my moms like sleeping on my side with pillows supporting my back and front doesn't seem to work, neither does elevating my feet.

My feet belum swell lagi, but it's too early to celebrate. We'll see in a few weeks.

I keep getting sharp pains on the bottom of my abdomen. When I asked my obgyn about it, he told me not to walk around so much, which is the total opposite of what everyone else has been telling me. Dia kata "Orang tua2 memang suka suruh jalan banyak2, but it's not necessary". Well, he's the expert kan? But the funny thing was, the first thing I did after that checkup was to go jalan2 with my sisters. Degil. LOL

The baby's updates:
The baby has grown tremendously. I read that the starting of the third trimester usually means that the baby's movements aren't all that vigorous anymore, since there's less space in the uterus. Tapi does my little princess know that? Of course not! She's moving even more vigorously than before, if that's even possible. Degil kot macam mommy dia. :P

I've also more or less been able to figure out her sleeping patterns. She sleeps after Subuh, and ONLY after Subuh! I wake up at around 6.15-6.30, at which point she's usually still active. Habis around 6.45, wake hubby up and baring2 while he gets ready. By the time he's ready to leave, she's sleepy and moving a lot less. I usually fall back asleep when my husband has left for work, around 7.30, and wake up around 9.30. That's the only time she sleeps. If this pattern continues after birth, habisla!

Anyway, this is what she's supposed to look like about now, which i think is so comel:



Picture taken from Babycenter

26 weeks update

1. The baby is probably a girl ( I say probably because there's a 1% chance that the scan might have been wrong)

2. She's estimated to be at 900g which is normal. Means she's not big and not small. Normal je.

3. She's an active one. Loves listening to her daddy talk.

That's it kot.