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!