Antenatal Class Summary:

Hey sorry for the delay..and to make it worse, this post is not gonna be a long one. but at least there’s something to read on for you ya! I apologize for that. I am a week or two away from my edd and i dont feel so good today so here you go some info (Q&A) that has been brought up during the antenatal class ive gone to.

 

1. The pediatrician said she does not believe in “barut” and i asked why?

Being a medical person, it is illogical that “angin” can get into your baby’s tummy through his/her belly button. The “angin” somehow got inside his/her belly when breastfeeding or any other activities that requires his/her opening the mouth. in addition, “barut” will only worsen the umbilical cord that has just been cut.in the first week after being born, the cord is still wet and if we apply the “barut” to the baby, it will cover the cut cord and gather moisture and bacteria that may cause “kudis”.

2. When is the right time to circumcise your baby and how to take care the baby if he is circumcised early? (Q to the paed as well)

It is recommended doing it after birth or before the baby turns one month. there’s a great great grandmother story says that the skin that has been circumcised will grow back. THIS IS NOT TRUE. even in Islam urge us to circumcise the baby early, there’s no specific age, it is just a recommendation.

3. This was written 5 years ago and I just rest it at number two. Have no idea how to continue, but I do have lotsa things to share about parenting :D.

At 36th week

Total Gained up to 36 weeks: 14kgs

oh well, almost 3kgs of it (2.8kg goes to the baby)..I was surprised my baby gained 1.2kgs just over a month! Alhamdulillah..he’s been healthy and growing at a normal weight. 😀

Ante Natal Class

Okay so I was excited to attend this class coz you know, I am not good in handling babies (oh well, so as all the first time mommies). As seen on movie, I thought the class would have like practical session on how to change diapers, feeding the babies and all but it wasnt really like that. Although, me and hubby got many essential informations, just as right for first time parents.

As i mentioned in previous post, I loved it when all the speakers explained to us all the dos and donts medically and scientifically so that we could understand why we can do this and cant do that. To be honest, I dont really like to follow all those old beliefs even though I admit that some of them are right. However, I need a scientific explanation why. Usually, when we ask the elders, they wont explain in details, they just said, “petua orang dulu-dulu, ikut aje.” Heh, i hate that answer. Thus, these are the reasons why i trust science more than old beliefs:

1. They have more research subjects than old beliefs has; which covers the whole population in the world, not just locally.

2. Old beliefs is more to adat which in malaysia no adat is genuinely from one race, it is usually mix with other races that some will actually against Islamic religion or menyusahkan kita only.

3. Science details are much more understandable and explains according to the norm of our anatomy.

4. Some old beliefs (ridiculous one) are totally opposite to our norm and sometimes dont make sense at all.

 

And so the class begun at 8.30am with the registration and breakfast. They fixed the class for 20 couples only so that it was easier to focus. Half an hour later, the first topic started. It should be about “Nutrition during Pregnancy” but they switched it to “Success of Breastfeeding” by a breastfeeding consultant. The consultant was Puan Jasmin Tee (forgot her full name), a lactation consultant/experts from susuibu.com.

This topic really is helpful. I remember asking a friend who is a first time mother as well, about breastfeeding. Maybe she was too busy for a class, she said she only knew how to breastfeed when the nurse taught her how to after delivering her baby. And so the topic evolved around how to start breastfeeding your baby, what are the signals shown by your baby, how to be mentally prepared for breastfeeding, the advantage of breastfeeding and many more. I wont really touch the topic in detail because you have to attend the class to get the infos (and i dont get any commission for this, just my honest effort to help first time mothers). I will summarize each topic later below.

After that, the class proceed with “Pregnancy and Labor Process” topic, given by Dr Jumeah Shamsuddin, one of the Obstetricians & Gynecologists at Darul Ehsan Medical Center (DEMC). To me, the pregnancy part was ok until it came to the labor process part. One cant imagine how it would be even though you were shown the picture by picture process because the real deal is when you deliver the baby yourself. This was the scariest topic of all. May Allah makes it easy for all of us. Amin!

Then, we had tea break and progress to the next topic, “Care of Newborn, Child’s Vaccine Updates and Effective Baby Massage by one of DEMC Pediatrician. Could catch her name since I was out for bathroom break. This is when I asked about the barut, and my husband asked about circumcision at the early age. The answer will be revealed later in the summary.

Before the lunch break, one of DEMC Anesthetists giving us a talk on what kind of “Pain Relief” are there to ease the delivery pain and how the procedure would be. Again, we had a good laugh when the Anesthetists told us about the great great grandmother stories (old beliefs) and why are they not true. Shortly after that, we were brought to delivery rooms and wards for a tour so that we could get used of the environment.

Then we had lunch and solat break. this is the time when we got to bond with other first time parents. Most of them are in the third trimester already (same with me!).

After lunch, the class proceed with the delayed topic, “Nutrition during Pregnancy” by an Anmum Nutritionist, Adrianne Koh. This topic basically discussed how many calories intake should a pregnant woman takes and how anmum can help with that. Oh well, I dont drink Anmum (or formula milk), I just listened to the nutrition and calorie part. And the thing I interested the most is the lucky draw! But we werent so lucky though. Those lucky parents-to-be (and babies) got to win themselves Anmum goodies, one of them being the comforter and pillow set!

The penultimate topic was about “The Importance of Postnatal Care” by a consultant from Iree Touch, Zuraidah or Kak Ida. She is as petite as me! Ok, not related. She actually talked about how to take care of your body after pregnancy and the services that they have to help modern moms with confinement. Little did I know that there are services like confinement nanny! Oh well, i do know that during my mother’s time, there was a midwife came to our house for massaging, bertungku and all but now the services coverage are more awesome! There are packages for you that nanny would also cook and prepare the bath for you and the baby. Maybe I’ll try the packages on my second child (ahaha!) since I’ll be at my hometown for my first one. And those who attended DEMC Antenatal Class that day got special price for TANAMERA Post Natal Care set and one more lucky prize for lucky winners for the Post Natal Spa Package. Hope I am the one! In Shaa Allah.

So the last topic was “The Effective Breathing Techniques During Labor” given by one of DEMC Physiotherapists. I am not sure whether I can remember all skills during labor time but hopefully I will remember some. In Shaa Allah. There was also a muscle exercise called Kegel Exercise for your pelvic muscles. It helps to tighten up your vagina after birth (for women) and also enlarge and strengthen men’s penis (for men, if I am not mistaken). So there’s no need to take jamu rapat, kacip fatimah and all to do that, just exercise ladies! haha 😀

I guess thats it for now! I am trying to write more, but starting to feel the backpain already, so will continue the summary on the next post.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Antenatal Class

Went to an antenatal class today. It was very informative and i love it when they explained things medically and logically so that we could understand all the dos and donts. As we all know, we have those old beliefs and most of us just follow blindly without understanding much about it. Some of them are ridiculous which I would say clashing with the norm of our body should be scientifically.

Among the topics given were nutrition during pre and post pregnancy (calorie intakes), breastfeeding (how to, the importance etc), how to control breathing (with some additional info on post pregnancy muscle excercise), aenesthetic details and a couple more. I would tell you in detail later since i need to get an early rest tonight. See you in the next post! 😉

Challenges on third trimester

Lil did I know that third trimester brings a lot of challenges to me. I was blissed to experience a rather breezy 1st and 2nd trimester which alhamdulillah, didnt have those typical uneasy pregnancy symptoms or allergies.

But to my surprise, i started to feel some of those in 3rd trimester which take me some time to adapt. Not the morning sickness and all but the sleepless night and constipation. Those two really get on my nerves and i find it quite a challenge to face. Oh well, on the positive notes, i take all those pushes i do in the toilet as a training for me to push the baby out during delivery. In Shaa Allah.

There is actually a remedy to both symptoms i mentioned. Firstly for the constipation. Eat a lot of papaya, before every meal. Ive tried other fruits, but papaya did a way better job than others. Moreover, eating fruits before meal is a sunnah. Islam has already had the cure, why need to find other solution? 😉 dont just do this during pregnancy, continue doing it for the rest of your life..you’ll In Shaa Allah have a better health.

Secondly for the sleepless night. I am the person who take sleep seriously and must get 6hrs of sleep (minimum). if not i’ll get moody or dont have energy the next day. I know most of you (pregnant women) at this time will suddenly up in the middle of the night for nature call or sometimes because those little movements made by your lil one inside. I usually wake up because of the call. But from what I read from What to Expect When Youre Expecting book, you can actually avoid those calls by not taking too much fluid after 6pm, providing that you have taken enough fluid for the day before that time. If you still feel thirsty though, just drink anyway, but not too much. and other thing i learnt from the book is to work your body out during the day. What i do to get good sleep is by doing house chores or anything during the day (since i am still jobless and now is a full time housewife). this is to get your body feel tired then you’ll be likely to fall asleep easily at night and have a good rest.

I think thats all for now..need to continue doing my house chores..see ya later!

Chin up!

I know it’s tiring to hold that tummy up but hey its for your future health! Not only yours but your baby! I guess by the picture it would also ease your delivery nanti! Here’s a guide to a good posture during pregnancy. Dont just give up to the gravity!

5 “Weird” Things during My Pregnancy

And so it has been 22 weeks of my pregnancy and forgive me for not updating the news as frequent. I am no longer an avid blogger or some sort. While I have the time (or mood) to write, lets continue with the symptoms Ive promised to tell you. I have got 5 things that I could think of right now.

1. Morning sickness

Man! I am lucky not to have any. Seriously. and Alhamdulillah Allah gives me this privilege compared to other new mommy-to-bes. I think out of 10 pregnant woman only 4 or maybe 5 are exceptional. Oh well, I think it is all in your mind. I have a friend that is totally normal before she was confirmed pregnant but after she checked with the doctor, the next day, she started to feel nausea and all. poor her! As for me, it was the other way around. From my previous post, I just had some migraine-like headache before i was confirmed pregnant but upon confirming with the doctor, the symptoms had just gone. and I feel like a normal person, doing normal activities (except the heavy ones)..err just that now I have to remind myself that I am pregnant so that I wont go too hyper!

Oh btw, this is just FYI. from some of my readings from this website, morning sickness is caused by the increment of your estrogen hormone level by 100 times and the other cause i want to highlight is your acidic body. Not many of us know that the only alkaline food is fruits and veges but few of us do not eat enough portion to balance the acidity of other food (for alkaline food advice, do not hesitate to ask me? 🙂 ). With the increasing progesterone (that will help relax your uterus muscles so that you wont deliver the baby before its time), your intestines is likely to become relax too and that leads to acid build ups. there is more to read in this website too! all your concerns about morning sickness, be it the cause and how to treat it will be answered here. 😉

2. Fasting

Ok I dont think this is weird at all. but it has become weird when my younger sister told me she has a friend that was advised by her doctor not to fast during ramadhan. I know the doctor’s concern is the nutrition for the baby but if you plan it well or know what you are eating to give enough nutrition to your baby, it has nothing to worry about.

As for me, I was looking forward to fast for 30 days this year. Could not remember when was the last time i could fast for the whole month 😉 . the fasting went well until the day the doc had to take some blood out of my vein for some tests. Maybe I was feeling mengada that time and giving the excuse ‘nanti xcukup darah utk baby’ (LOL 😛 ) i break fast by drinking a can of milo bought at the petrol station after the check up..sighs really wasted a day, giving that i am so malas to qada anytime soon. wish i wasnt that mengada that time. that was only one day and it was smooth sailing until the end of ramadhan, alhamdulillah. the baby has no problem at all and grows at a normal rate.

3. Rapid Weight Gain

ever since i was pregnant until my last weight scaled (17/06 – 17/09/2012), my total weight gain is about 1kg. unbelievable? i’ll put my red card record pic below. well, the doc said it had nothing to worry about as long as the baby is growing healthily at a normal rate. so i dont feel weird, in fact im feeling lucky not have that many weight put on me.its all on the baby.

have you ever wondered why women put on so much weight during pregnancy and find it hard to lose it back post pregnancy? it is because of the water retention or edema they say. i would love to write it all here but then the post would be too lengthy so i guess you can just google about it.

There is actually an ideal weight gain chart and it will tell you how much you should gain during your pregnancy according to your normal weight. Here’s a link of weight gain estimator by babycenter.com to help you estimate how much you should gain during pregnancy.

4. Cravings

I dont have that fancy cravings as soon as i know it is only a psychology issue. Yes you read it right. If the elders told you that if you crave for something and you dont have it during pregnancy period, you baby might drool a lot after s/he is delivered. I claim that as a myth because it cant be explained scientifically. As a matter of fact, you are the one who actually controls what you want to eat and eat whats best for the baby. Ignore all the nonsense cravings you have. As quoted in What To Expect When You Are Expecting apps, during week 21,

“Your baby swallows at least several ounces of amniotic fluid each day-not only for hydration and nutrition but also to practice swallowing and digesting- skills your baby will need as sson as he or she arrives in your arms. And keep this in mind: The taste of the amniotic fluid differs from day to day depending on what you’ve eaten (spicy enchilada one day, sweet carrots another). And that smorgasbord of tastes wont be lost on your baby. That’s because your little one has developed taste buds already. In fact, researchers have noted that babies who were exposed to certain tastes in utero via the amniotic fluid were more eager to eat foods with the same taste after birth. Want your baby to eat his or her broccoli later? Eat yours now!”

Haha i love the very last sentence very much. so remember the cravings are just myth. you should eat good stuff for your baby and i tell you, it will be definitely worth it when the baby is out. As for my experience, i love spicy food very much and i cant eat without the taste of hot chillies in my mouth. oh not to mention the ever delicious sambal belacan made by my mom. but realizing that it might cause eczema or any other diseases to the baby when he or she is out, i stopped eating it right away. i consume less spicy food and definitely no sambal belacan at all. trust me, this advice will save you lotsa money for eczema treatment later. If you want your baby to be healthy, starts eating healthy food now not when they are out in the real world. That time, it will be too late already.

5. Stretch Marks

Okay, I actually have no idea for the last one since this post has been delayed for two weeks. So far no stretch mark is visible as what I read in the apps but most people said the marks are actually visible post pregnancy. Right now is when the skin is stretched so we wont see it but when the baby is out, the skin will start sagging and that is when you can see a lot of them! so to reduce the marks, you can start applying some moisturizer (skin lotion) to those possible areas like your belly, butts, hips and thighs.

So i guess that it for now! Will keep you posted on whats good for babies! I find it hard to read a lot but at least keep digging to know whats best for your little one 😉

Confession of a Mommy-to-be

It is really a surprise! oh well, Allah knows best. and so now I am about 8 weeks pregnant! can you believe it?? I dont. Haha. So since this is my first time having this experience I feel like I should make a journal about it so it can be my reference in future or maybe it can be your reference as first timer. What I am gonna write is wholly my experience..I know nothing much about being pregnant neither do read much on it, so i just go with the flow, do whatever is right. and also i dont just jump into what people say things that should n shouldnt we do during pregnancy, I usually do some search about it and analyze whether or not their sayings is true. i usually trust science and research more 😉

My pregnancy chronology:

1. A week before i was suspected pregnant (14 – 20 May 2012)

a chocolate spot was spotted and i thought it was my period time. so i applied the pad and assumed it was that time of the month. BUT surprisingly, that was the only time the spot was seen and no red liquid was seen either. so i mandi wajib as it wasnt that time of the month yet.

Waking up the next morning, I spotted the chocolate spot again, then did the same thing as the day before but it was another false alarm. so after that i just waited for my actual period schedule to confirm whether it was the time already.

anyway, since i hit puberty, i havent had problems with my period cycle. It has always been on time, if it does change, only for 1 or 2 days, no later than that. so i started to sense something was fishy but just ignored it at that moment.

Oh and on friday that week, I enjoyed my 2 hours weekly futsal with my futsal mates as usual and it was good to be back on the court!

2. During Scheduled Period Time (21- 27 May 2012; period day should be on 23rd)

Oh well, as you can expect it was late on day 1. I still felt fine with it since my period sometimes late 1 or 2 days..or maybe 3. so I hadnt jumped onto the conclusion yet. waited until day 4 and it hadnt come out, i started to freak out and asked my doctor sister about it. she said, oh maybe youre stressed or change of lifestyle make it late a bit. but i told her, as stress as I am, my period hasnt been 4 days late. I wasnt actually planning to have a baby at this time but you know, we only plan, but Allah decides when is the best time. I am not regretting, I was just surprised. and so during that 4 days, there was actually one time that I had a headache like migrain that i thought because of the hot scorching weather. Honestly, I have never had any headache (unless lambat tidur, itu pun minor) before.

I wrote my name as usual for futsal that friday but the headache make me cancelled it at the very last minute. I thought it would be ok after i got home, but i wasnt. So to calm me down, Saiful ‘guasa’ -ed (a chinese massage using bull’s horn piece) my head for few minutes and the headache finally relieved. Then we discussed what was happening but still hadnt gone into the conclusion since there were no other major signs appeared – like vomitting and bloated feeling.

To clarify what was going on, we started asking people who had experience pregnancy before and explain to her what i had felt and they said I was probably pregnant but they advised to test after a week I miss my period.

3. On the Pregnancy Kit Test (24 May 2012)

Saiful bought the most reliable kit at watson to confirm on my pregnancy and the day i peed on the kit was when he had gone to work. I was really nervous not just to wait for the result but to pee on that thing for the first time and i was afraid i would screw it. while waiting for the result, many things running through my mind. if this is it, what should i do next? if it isnt, should i be sad or maybe happy about it? seriously it was the longest few seconds i had to wait. and tadaaaa!!! positive it was..I have the picture but it is in other phone later i will put it here..

I dont know what to feel at that moment. seriously i was just stunned. Then it struck me, now I have a responsibility to bear. a MASSIVE one, not just to bring a human being into this world, but to raise and shape him to be a great person/hamba Allah. I am not denying the fact that I was stunned because I thought I wasnt ready to be a mom, but I was taught to be responsible, so I will take good care of this baby and insyaAllah will raise him as good as I can.

After all those drama in my mind, I text messaged Saiful to inform him the news. And of course he was ecstatic about this and that very evening after i fetched him from work, he quickly brought me to the clinic to reconfirm with the doctor. that time it was only 4 weeks and no heartbeat was heard yet so we had to come the next two weeks.

sidenote:

1. part of i being stunned and surprised i got pregnant because i played 2 hours of futsal (man, i ran up and down the court like nobody’s business), the week before i was confirmed pregnant and jumping (few times) for jumpshots (below) a day before i tested using pregnancy kit. this baby might be a strong kid like his mom 😉

2. next post will be about the symptoms i had during my pregnancy this few weeks which i dont think there’s nothing much but i would say it is different from ive heard from other people.

Screw the Title

Oh well, I dont know what the title should be. I just had something to write after so long. Twitter has taken all the fun of writing a blog because you dont have to write long in it. You can just publish anything that comes right to your mind. But technically, if you combine all those posts in twitter, it will become a blog post. As simple as that. Yeah I bet you knew it already.

So what Ive been up to after being married? so many things that I dont think I could cramp it all in here. Lets see if I am persistent enough to write each story in each post (fingers crossed!). And so, where to start? …I dont even know where to start! LOL..ok so lets just make a checklist so that it will be easier to track down. People say if you keep it in your mind, it will get tangled and in the end you wont bother to untangle it. so here it goes…

1. Life After Marriage

2. Getting A Job

3. Being P.. oh and the list goes on…

Have you been in this situation before? You feel the urge to write back in your old blog then you got stuck in the middle? sighs..I wish I could end this like happily-ever-after story..well, I know Im not a good author but at least I tried..hehe so till then yall!

Bookmark this website, cause youll definitely be hooked!

Bookmark this website, cause youll definitely be hooked!.