Breastfeeding journey,season 2...

Assalamualaikum sisters n brothers,

Alhamdulillah, we survived from haze! Hahaha... It was rili terrible and uncomfortable here in Gombak during the haze attack last few weeks. Paling kesian dengan kids and babies lah. Even kita orang tua pun rasa macam sesak nak bernafas, apatah lagi diorang! Anyway, Alhamdulillah, Allah had saved us all from that..

Actually, I'm just done doing my presentation slides for conference tomorrow. I'll be presenting my paper on that conference, InsyaAllah. Actually, start hari ni, tetapi, saya yang pemalas ini malas nak join today's sessions. So I'll join tomorrow's session je lah! Plus, tomorrow ada invited keynote speakers from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and University of Melbourne. My current SV advised me to go and meet them. Mana tahu leh jadi potential SV for PhD.. *wink, wink*

Ok, masih tak masuk tajuk lagi.. Camana nak get rid of this not -straight-to-the-point habit ni eh? Camano nak jadik lecturer ni, cerita pusing sana,pusing sini.. Huhuhuhu..

SEBENARNYA, I nak cerita pasal breastfeeding. Season 2 sebab this is my 2nd time. Alhamdulillah, I managed to breastfeed Fatin for 2years ++. She weaned off totally when I was pregnant for Faris. Maybe susu dah rasa tak sedap, or probably there's no milk at all.. Haha..

So far, Faris is still exclusively breastfed. No additional food or drinks. Totally breast milk. And InsyaAllah, I'm planning to stick to that until he is 6months old or until he is ready for solid. 

Breastfeeding wise, generally, is more or less similar to Fatin's time. But Fatin was a bit lucky that I only left her for classes when she was almost 6months. And most of the time, she was with me, so I can just direct fed anytime she needed it.  And I guess I started to actively pumping and storing EBM only when she started to go to Educare. She was already 9months old at that time. 

To be honest, pumping and storing wise, I was not really successful. Ibaratnya macam kais pagi,makan pagi, kais petang makan petang lah! I pumped for the next day supply. At first, macam survived lagi, since during that time Fatin rejected feeding via bottle! So milk consumption was not that much. But, after I changed her bottle to different brand, then she started to consume more milk, I dah start sesak nafas dah nak mencukupkan stock. Hihihi.. 

Akhirnya, when she was 1 year and 3 months old (if I'm not mistaken), I already supplied formula for her at school. When she was at home, I direct fed je lah.. Sedih sangat masa tu.. Rasa macam loser je sebab tak mampu nak supply only breast milk to my daughter! However, I pasrah je lah, sebab my priority at that time was my child's well being. Rather than she got insufficient nutrition, then lebih baik bagi je formula..

BUT, this time around, I am determined to try my best to give Faris breast milk as long as I can. In fact, I started to store EBM quite early. Masa dalam pantang dah store dah. Maybe it's easier for me to discipline myself this time since I start to leave him with nanny quite early (3months old). And so far, I stick to my 3 times pumping session at office, from 930am to 415pm. Alhamdulillah, so far, I managed to get almost 20oz a day from that 3 sessions.
 
I guess, the most important thing in breastfeeding and pumping is the mind set. Kalau kita set it is burdening and hard to do, then jadi susah lah. As for me, I'm blessed with so many facilities that are breast-pumping friendly. Individual office, sink just a few steps from my office, convenient pump (am pumping while typing this ;p ) and of course great health, Alhamdulillah! So I have no reason actually not to pump. Kalau malas jugak, memang nak kena ketuk lah. Kufur nikmat namanya! Huhuhu... Ada orang yang tak bernasib baik, Allah tak bagi rezeki menyusukan anak sebab tak sihat, tak ada susu and etc. Jadi sila ingat Pn Farahiyah, you are so blessed to be able to do that, so jangan sia-siakan! DISCIPLINE!

InsyaAllah... Hopefully, for this 2nd season, my breastfeeding journey will be better, longer and efficient! Amin.. Oh ya, I'm also determined to take supplement every day so that the milk produced will be healthier and rich with nutrition.. Hehe.. 

Wish me luck ok! And to all mommies who's currently breastfeeding and storing EBM for your child, all the best! Let's all GANBATTE together ok! Hehe..

 

Loads of love, 

* Farah Jasni*

Back In Action!

Salam u'olls...

Today's entry is actually to share wif u’olls ‘bout my 2nd semester in UIA.. It’s coming to the end of 2^nd week of this semester.. All classes dah start dengan hard core.. Last week were more relax since we just have an introductory class, so, it were short. Kul 6 lebih dah leh balik dah… Best..

But not this week… So, I’m back in action!! Ho..yeahh!!

This semester, I’m taking 4 subjects. And all of them are core courses. Meaning, engineering subject! Mechanical Vibration with Dr Asan Ghani, Intelligent Machines with Dr Nahrul Khair, Image processing & Computer Vision with Prof OOK (HOD ECE department and ya, it is an ECE course.. Gatal pi amik course ECE.. Hahaha) and Research Methodology with Dr Raisuddin Khan.

Initially, I have class on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And of course the classes are conducted at the very interesting time, at 5pm – 8pm (sigh…..). But, last week, in my Image Processing class, we all agreed to change the time for the class to some other time..

And to make it more interesting, it is changed to Wednesday, from 2pm – 5pm….

So kesimpulannya, on Wednesday, I have class from 2pm – 8pm straight!!! Interesting kan???? Huuuuwaaaa…

And Wednesday was Yesterday. And MasyaAllah, it was hectic!! Haishh… Sangat huru hara..

I sent Fatin to her school at 1015am. Saje hantar lambat, so that I can spend more time with my budak tecit tuh… Since I thought, I wouldn’t be able to come in the afternoon to feed her, so I spent about half an hour there, in Educare to feed and play with her… Ye lah, nak tengok muka dia puas-puas, sebab malam lak baru jumpa… Rindu tau…. Huhuhu..

Lepas tuh I went straight to Lab. Lepak there, waiting for class. Sambil tuh pump susu for today’s stock.. Actually while writing nih pon I am pumping.. Haha..

Semenjak hantar Fatin to Educare nih, baru terasa jenuh nak mengepam siang malam.. Huhuhu.. Before this, direct feed je. Tinggal stock pon jz for the 3 hours I’m off to class.Now nak mencukupkan stock for a day pon bercinta..

Everyday, I prepare 7oz (3.5oz per bottle), sometimes 8oz to be left at Educare stock for a day, from 10am – 4pm (lebey kurang la).. Fatin is now taking solid, so she doesn’t need much of milk during daylight.. Tapi I perasan, sejak she stays at Educare nih, malam memang kow-kow pny gayut… Dalam bahasa Jawa nye.., ‘ngempeng’… Lepas gian agaknya.. huhuhu…

Ok…I deviate too much now.. Back to the student’s routine ok.. At 2pm, I went for the OOK’s class. And as expected, he spent the sweet 3 hours. Ada la break for 15min, in the middle of the class. Haishhh… Finished the class at 5pm, rushing to Lab for Asar prayer, then rushed to the 2^nd class, Intelligent Machine..

Lucky me, the lecturer was quite late yesterday.. So, ada la masa amik napas jap.. We finished the class at 730pm. Solat Maghrib, then balik rumah… Balik-balik je, my baby n her Ayah dah ada depan pintu… Weeeee… Sangat rindu kamu berdua… Walobagaimanapon, instead of terus bermain dengan lil gurl, I went straight to meja makan and had dinner.. Sebab I WAS starving like h**l.. My last meal was at 1130am kot!!! Mana tak macam hantu raya aku kelaparan... Huhuhuhu

(Oh off the record, tapi dalam kereta I dah membaham satu peket kerepek ubi dengan lajunya sbb dah menggigil kelaparan.. And I didn’t consider that as MAKAN, sbb skang I dah jadi dinasour! Hahaha).

But I tell u’olls, I was rili exhausted! Hadeh… Sangat-sangat memerlukan supplement… Ha..talking ‘bout supplement plak.. Actually, I did ordered a set of Shaklee vitamins. The set is special for nursing moms. There are Vita-C, Vita-Lea, B-Complex (the one I need most!) and Alfafa in the set..

I tried a trial pack (supply for a month) before, and I think it did help in boosting my energy and making my milk become ‘better’, in a sense, it becomes thicker and Fatin doesn’t have to consume much to be full. So, last Friday, I ordered again. This time, a complete pack which can last for 4months +.

Nak dijadikan cerita, ada problem sket with my order. So up to today, I haven’t received my goods.. However, since the dealer is sooo nice and take full responsible on it, I tak kisah la.. Hopefully I’ll get it some time soon.. InsyaAllah…

Petang nih, another 2classes.. Research Methodology and Mechanical Vibration. So will be back late, again.. Fatin, wait for Mama, ok.. Jangan tidur awal sangat…!

Oh, nak selit gak.. Tadi teacher Fatin called. She said, if I can’t make it to come to see her this afternoon pon takpe. Since my baby is playing happily with new friends!!! Yeahhh!!!!!! Fatin is now happy staying there.. That’s the most important thing for me, for my girl to be happy and healthy.. Alhamdulillah..

Ok lah.. C ya again, InsyaAllah….

Ganbatte-neh Mama Farah!!

Yeay, New pump!!

Salam peeps,

Hi! Wahh, lamanya I tak update story I... Huhuhu.. Padahal,exams are through for almost a week dah.. Huhuhuhu.. Kesian enche' blog... Tidak dipedulikan oleh saya yg pemalas ini... hehe..

As mentioned, I have finished my examination last week. The final paper was on 13th Nov and it was DCS (Digital Control System) paper... Haduih...... The questions are DAMN A LOT!! Kelam kabut mak nak menjawabnya... And I implemented a wrong strategy in answering! Yikess!!!! Sekarang I berdoa je, harap-harap I leh dapat B, cause the passing marks for Master's level is B, which is 70 marks.. Sila tau ye.. Hadoi.......

Before that, I had the RKGS 6000 paper (ala-ala subject ethics and Islam and engineering gitu...). The question, hmm.., not like what we expected. The topics for all 4 questions are so concentrated to 2 topics in the course outline.. Haish..,and unfortunately, not among the topics that I focussed on.. But anyway, Alhamdulillah, at least HE gave me the idea to goreng-goreng sampai masak.. Yikes!! Hehehe...

I have tried my best, so now, Tawakkaltu 'Alallah.. :)

Ok,act this post is not to story about exam..I nak cerita pasal menda yg dah agak lapuk sebab I tak sempat nak update blog... (Haishhhh.....)

Act, I wanna share my happiness that I've successfully purchased a new breastpump!!! A Medela Pump-In-Style Advanced!! Yeay!!!!! Tho it is not as canggih as Medela Freestyle (yg diidam-idamkan), tapi syukur Alhamdulillah, dapat Medela PISA pon dah syukur..

My new pump yg enche' suami belikan!! Yeay... :)

Pictures' source : http://mypreciouspepe.blogspot.com

And yg lebih best, my dearest, darlingest (apa word kah ini? ;p) HUBBY yg belanja me for that!! Double yeay!! Hihihi...

I bought it from an online shop ( http://mypreciouspepe.blogspot.com ). It's a pre-loved (2nd hand) unit but due to the seller, the pump was only been used for 4months and within the 4months pon, not frequent... So, memang the unit is still in good shape and looks new tuh! I loike.... Hehehe.. And I got a very-very good price from the seller... Thankssss a lot Farizan dear.... :)

What is special about Medela PISA nih, it is equipped with a 2-phase expression technique in pumping. In which, it simulate the real sucking method in direct feeding (how the baby sucks while feeding).

Act I pon baru tau pasal 2-phase expression in breastfeeding nih.. Meh, I explain sket how it works act.. When breastfeeding, the baby will first sucks fast and light to stimulate the milk production.. Once the breast has been sufficiently stimulated, then the baby will change to slower and deeper sucking to get as much milk as possible... For more info on this, check this out -> 2-Phase Expression

Subhanallah, hebat kan ciptaan Allah? The moment I tau pasal nih, I was like mesmerized for a moment with Allah's creation.. Macamana baby yg so vulnerable and tak tau pape tuh tau plak nak technique sucking yg cepat utk isi perut dia... Subhanallah.. Sesungguhnya Allah tuh Maha Bijaksana... :)

Ok, back to the pump.. So, other than it is equipped with 2-phase expression tuh, it is also comes with a very-the-convenient bag yg mudah dibawa ke mana-mana... inside the bag, siap ada mini freezer bag yg leh keep the EBM. the ice pack pon provided... So no need to purchase ice packs separately...

I have tried to use the pump ala-ala cara careered mummy gitu masa exam ari tuh.. Hehe.. I jinjing the bag masa I gi lepak study in UIA. Sangat-sangat convenient I tell you.. Hehe

And the pumping session, yes, sangat best!!! Ada la rasa different dia.. Not to say Ameda punya tak best, best juga (kak wi, jgn marah arr... Hihihi), tapi Medela won't sell their product for higher price for nothing kan?? So, I have to admit, it is more comforting and easier...

And the 2-phase expression technique, it really helps.. In less than 20min, I dah dapat collect 5-6 oz.. Great!!! Alhamdulillah.. So memang membuatkan I rasa the pumping process is not burdening at all..

Ok, I dah puji bnyk dah pasal Medela PISA.. Nak citer one drawback plak that I could find is, the set, overall is quite weighty. Not that very heavy la, but untuk org kecil molek macam my cuzzies (Kak Wiwi and Kak Yani), memang not very suitable.. Mau senget bahu diorg ngangkut mendalah nih.. Kalo org beso cam I tak pe.. Tak terasa pon menggendong bag tuh walopon dengan buku-buku yg melambak masa tuh.. hehehe..

I guess, for small size person, Medela Freestyle is much more convenient.. Actually Freestyle memang suitable for sapa-sapa lah! Dalam kete sambil drive pon leh pump!! Tapi harga dia pon "best" gak la kan... Hehehehe...

So, that's all for entry kali nih.. Next entry, I berangan (have to use the word 'berangan' sebab belom tau tercapai ke tak..hihihi), I wanna share about my feeling about Fatin's going to childcare plak..

Eh, I tak bagitau u olls lagi ek, My budak bucuk is going to school (childcare actually... ;p) starting from this coming 1st of Dec.. Tarikh keramat tuh.. Alhamdulillah, IIUM Educare called me last Tuesday and told me the good news that they finally have place for Fatin there.. My feeling?? Hmm, macam-macam.. Nanti next entry I share ek... Tungguuuuu.... Hihihi..

Babai for now... Wassalam.... Piece...

EXPERIMENT TITLE : Introducing Solid Food to My Dear Baby Fatin Amani

Salam peeps,

Since I'm now practically an Engineering student, so I have to utilize the experiment-reporting skills. Hehe.. so today, I will write this post in experiment report form.. (Sungguh tak ada keje kan??)

____________________________________________________________________

EXPERIMENT TITLE : Introducing Solid Food to My Dear Baby Fatin Amani

Date of Experiment : 13/08/2010

Introduction :

The idea to perform the experiment is actually sparked out when the subject's grandparents (both side Gombak & Klang) keep asking when to start introducing the solid food to the subject. Since Mama dah pressure and furthermore, the Fatin Amani is reaching 6months old this end of this month, so Mama thought, maybe she's ready to the solid food as an additional nutrients other than breast milk. And moreover, she starts to show sign of 'terliur' when she sees other people in da house makan (we always bring her to the dining when we have lunch or dinner). So, Mama finally decided to start the solid food and chose 13/08/10 as tarikh keramat for Fatin to have her first solid in her life and potato puree the first food ever after mama's milk... =)

Apparatus :

• Fatin Amani binti Mohd Rozaidi (which will be the SUBJECT in this experiment)
• Potato Puree
• Tea spoon
• Plain water
• Bowl

Experiment Objectives :

• to introduce the solid food to the subject
• to check whether the subject is ready for solid food
• to snap pictures of the subject on her reaction to the solid food (aik, nih pon leh jadi objective?? Hehehe)

Hypothesis :

It is predicted that she will enjoy her first solid since she always looks interested to food when she sees others eating.

Procedures:

a) The solid food preparation procedure

1. Slice the a potato into 4 pieces
2. Boil the potato slices (agak-agak la sampai empuk)
3. Toskan and wait till it is not to hot
4. Blend 2slices of the potato with some water
5. Pour the blended potatoes to the penapis to get the puree

the final product

b) Serving the food to the subject

1. Wear the bib to the subject to avoid the needs to change to a new cloth after feeding ;p

fatin's steady face b4 the experiment, playing wif her favourite Mr. Paul

2. Use a clean tea spoon to feed the subject

(Ready for the results....?? Jeng jeng jeng.......)

Results:

Yuck!!! What's this??

Please Mama, ask nenek to stop serving me that..

Not again!!!

It tastes awful! Huhuhu...

Discussion & Conclusion:

Hahaha.... She definitely hated it (sampai nak termuntah my baby telan potato puree tuh, unfortunately I didn't snap the pic sbb busy usap-usap dada dia... Hehehehe).

The results are based on few reasons (I think la...)

1. She is not ready for solid food (thus the interest that she shows is just a false alarm..??)
2. She hates potato. Not tasty?? (Dear, when u r in mama's womb, potato was my favourite!!Dalam perut suka, skang tak suka plak dah..??)
3. The recipe is just not suitable for her, the beginner..

Looking at the causes of the results (180degree deviated from hypothesis..hadoi...), some counter measures that I can think of:

1. Delay the solid food until she is 7/8 months,maybe..Or at least wait until she is 6months old.
2. Try other puree. For instance the carrot puree...
3. Improvise the recipe! Advices from my cuzzy sisters (Kak Wiwi & Kak Yani), pour a little bit of breast milk and mix it well with the food. So maybe she will accept it better since there is still taste that she familiar with, which is the milk.. (Mama's milk is still the yummiest kan Fatin??? ;p)

Considering all the options above, I have decided to perform another experiment later. So future experiment plan/design:

• to perform the experiment only after she is at least 6months old.. Which will be after 26th August..
• to use carrot puree mixed with breast milk as the material..

In conclusion, the experiment is successfully done although the result is not like what is expected. The causes and potential counter measures are discussed. The next experiment to check the same set of objectives to be performed.

Please come back...

Salam readers...

It is 1217am now.. And the match between Spain and Switzerland has just finished. And out of my expectation, Spain lost the game.. And encek suami is in grief rite now.. Hahaha.. Sabar ye Abang..

While my husband is grieving for his fav team's lost, I'm grieving for the decrement of my milk production... HUHUHUHU... These late 2,3 days, I notice that my milk production was not as much as before.. I wonder why.. Is it because I was too tired? Ye la, lately dok busy with moving out from rumah subang and running here and there to settle studies stuff.. Or is it because my food consumption were decreased?? Hmm... I don't think so.. Rasanya melahap macam biasa jek..

Aduhai... WHY??? WHY???

Worried and Sad... Hopefully it won't last long.. I wanna fully breastfeed my lovely lil gurl till she reach 2, InsyaAllah... Paling koman pon, please let her enjoy my milk up to 6months.. Huhuhu.. Kesian Fatin...

Oh dear Milk..., please come back.....dengan banyaknye..please....huhuhuhu...
Oh Allah, please let me breastfeed Fatin longer.. She is too young to wean any time sooner...

Yang Mana Satu....

Yang mana satu...
Idaman kalbu...


Haih... I'm so confused now. Bukannya confuse apa, confuse on what should I spend my money for first. Hahaha.. I have a long list of things to buy in mind, but I have limited finance source.. *sigh..*. Kesian la dengan En Suami kalo I pow dia untuk beli semua skarang..Hehehe..
So I have to set the priority right. Which one is more important, so that will be the one that I'll buy first...

Some of the things that in my list

1) Cloth diapers for Fatin.
Fall in love wif this thing when I saw my cuzzy,Kak Wiwi used it for her son, Zikri. I personally think this new tech of diapers do provide conviniences for the mothers nowadays. Act, I did planned to use conventional napkin for my baby. In fact, we already made a stock of it before Fatin was born. However, tak jadi guna at the early days of her arrival to these world since newborn baby, especially the one that is breastfed 'berak' and kencing frequently. So, it might be a bit tedious to use napkin. Furthermore, I didn't want to cause trouble to Mama to wash a lot of Fatin's napkins everyday at that time. Se we used disposable diapers instead. Lama-lama, dah terbiasa la pulak! So bila nak guna napkin now, dah jadi kekok and doesn't look convincing for me. Macam akan bocor selalu je.. Huhu..
Kalau ada cloth diapers, senang sket. Jimat pun jimat, since we don't have to buy disposable diapers every 2 weeks no more..
Anyway, click here for some info on the advantages of cloth diapers..

2) Breastflow (brand : The first years) bottle set
Also suggested by Kak Wiwi to use this bottle. She even gave us one of Zikri's new bottle to test and seems like Fatin is OK wif it. Tq Kak Wiwi!! :)
The special feature about this bottle is it immitates the mother's breast. And it is not too easy for the baby to get the milk from the bottle since she/he has to suck it. Just like breasfeeding process. So, this will help the baby from having a nipple confusion syndrom.



3) Milk Warmer
Easier to heat the expressed milk up with correct temperature and precise timing. To avoid lost of nutritions from the milk because of over-heating. So, no need to pening-pening to prepare the milk for Fatin whether dah cukup panas ke belum, or either terlalu panas ke,bla..bla..bla..





4) Cooler kit set
Bag wif related stuff (ice packs etc.) for cooling purpose to serve the express milk. I need this bag when I start to go to the lab for my masters study later (July probably...) since there is no refridgerator in the lab to store the milk that I've pumped. Besides, need this also when travelling (if I wish to bring express milk. Mana la tau,waktu-waktu kecemasan, keadaan tak mengizinkan utk breastfeed Fatin..)





5) Laptop bag
Pun diperlukan when I need to go to the lab later. Now duduk kat rumah, tak payah bag pon tak apa..







6) Nursing clothes
Easier to breastfeed Fatin kat public.. Kang angkat-angkat baju, cik abang marah pulak..Hehehe..

7) Tower fan
Since our rumah sewa doesn't have air conditioner, so we will need to have this to cool the temperature in the room a bit so that Fatin tak kepanasan. Almaklumla, si kicik ni kan budak aircond.. Huhu..










That are the stuffs in my list (for now...). Which one should I get first?? Hmm... Only if I can get all of it.... Huhuhu...